By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In April 2011, I started a new job and became friends with a coworker who told me she was from Wittenberg, Wisconsin. I didn’t know anything about Wittenberg or even where it was, but when she told me the town was filled with murals, I knew I had to pay a visit to the town. This mural, entitled "ALL ABOARD! ALL ABOARD!", was painted in 2008 by Artist Andy Goretski of Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Unfortunately (for me, anyway), the railroad tracks and depot have been gone for a long time, but this mural portrays what it was like in the days when the Chicago & Northwestern steam trains passed through Wittenberg.
In September 2011, Ruth and I took a 3-day trip, photographing in nine counties in central and north central Wisconsin. It was an overcast and often rainy trip, but the rain came and went, and I managed to get some really good photos. If it isn’t pouring for hours, I’m okay with occasionally photographing underneath an umbrella. On the third day, as we began driving south toward home, we headed into Wittenberg to see and photograph the murals. But just as we pulled into town, it started raining hard, so we decided to have lunch while we waited for the rain to move through. Since our picnic lunch was a washout, we stopped at the local A&W Restaurant.
As soon as there was a break in the rain, we headed to our first mural, which was located on the side of the True Value Hardware store. This one, entitled "The Nuts & Bolts of It", is another mural by Artist Andy Goretski, and it was completed in 2010. It depicts the local hardware store around 1910 when the pioneer days were waning and the industrial revolution was taking off. Hardware stores served the needs of towns and villages in the same way as general stores. It was a place to get tools, equipment, and other household items, but it was also a gathering place where folks caught up on the local news (and gossip). Unfortunately, the brief break in the rain was already over and I had to photograph this mural in the rain.
Next, I photographed a turn-of-the-century saloon scene on the 1896 Village Inn Tavern. Saloons were also gathering places where people could see friends, have a drink, shoot a game of pool, or play cards. This mural, entitled "Wittenberg Welcomes You", was painted in 2007 by Artist Reynaldo Hernandez of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The rain had let up for a few seconds while I was standing in front of the saloon scene, but then some lightning streaked across the sky. Since it’s not a good idea to be standing with a metal tripod in a lightning storm, I jumped back into the car and we talked about what to do next. We decided to go and check out Nueske’s, internationally known for their applewood smoked meats. On the grounds of their company store is a vintage stone smokehouse.
We hung out in Nueske’s for a while and then I photographed the stone smokehouse in a light rain. Next to Nueske’s is the first schoolhouse of Wittenberg, a one-room schoolhouse built in 1882 and used as the village hall beginning around 1920 when a back room with a primitive jail cell was added. According to District No. 3 Antiques, which is now located in the schoolhouse, "The jail cell is still housed in the building today. The building was destined to be demolished, but instead was moved to its present location in 1992 and was extensively refurbished.” As it continued to rain and the skies continued to darken, we decided to head home and come back another time to photograph the murals.
It took another seven years before we returned to Wittenberg. In July 2018, we decided to head three hours north to visit the sunflower fields of Bergsbaken Farms. And, since Wittenberg is only about 45 minutes west of there, we could return to photograph the murals. We left home around 4:00 a.m. and photographed our way to the sunflower farm, arriving there in mid-afternoon.
The morning had been very sunny and then the afternoon was filled with filtered sunlight. After a couple hours at the farm, we headed to Wittenberg, arriving around 4:45 p.m. I set up my tripod to photograph "Help is on the Way", a Volunteer Firefighter & EMT Mural created in 2008 by Artist Alicia Rheal of Madison, Wisconsin. Before I could even take my first shot, a huge black cloud seemed to come out of nowhere and it rolled overhead. “Not again!” I said out loud, wishing we had come to town earlier in the day.
From there, we headed back to the saloon scene on the Village Inn because I couldn’t remember if I had gotten any good shots of this mural on the first trip. There, we met the nicest bartender who came out to see where we were from. We told her we had come to photograph the murals and then she told us that we should look carefully at each mural because there was something hidden in most of them. And then she pointed to a small circle on the barrels I was photographing. It might be hard to see it, but it looks almost like a knot hole in the middle of the front barrel.
She explained that each mural artist was asked to put a picture of the town’s founder, Reverend E. J. Homme, somewhere in the scene. That small circle contained his face. She told me to remember to look for his face in other murals. One of my favorite murals was just down the street from the tavern. It was a 4th of July fireworks mural on a former funeral home building, entitled, "Ka-Boom!!!". It was created in 2017 by Artist Carole Bersin of Sandstone, Minnesota, with flags by Andy Goretski.
After photographing the whole mural, I began to walk away and then realized that I had already forgotten to look for the reverend’s face. So, I turned around and saw what I hadn’t noticed before. Reverend Homme was watching the crowd of people who were watching the fireworks. Do you see his face in the window?
For the next hour, I worked quickly to photograph as many murals as I could in between rain showers (and a bit of lightning). We also went back to the hardware store mural (the third photo in this story) because I wanted to look at that extensive scene to see if I could find the reverend’s face. It took me a while, but I finally found him on the small shovel that hung on the back wall of the hardware store.
Reverend E.J. Homme founded Wittenberg (which now has a population of roughly 1,300) in 1879. He also established a home for the aged and an orphanage. According to the website for the Village of Wittenberg, “The Homme Home for the Aged and Homme Youth and Family Programs are still growing and thriving today in Wittenberg.” The Homme Home features a rare outdoor fresco on its north wall completed in 2006 by Artist Ram Rojas of Door County, Wisconsin. Part of this mural features the Reverend and Mrs. Homme.
Other parts of this outdoor fresco, entitled "Foundations of Faith", depict an angel more than two stories high on one panel and current and past churches of Wittenberg on another. There are hidden pictures of the birds and animals of the area throughout the fresco.
There were numerous other murals that we enjoyed as I worked to beat the storms. There was an elaborate multi-scene mural entitled, "A Tribute to Gus & Ann", completed in 2007 by Artist Ram Rojas. One of my favorite parts of it was this husky lounging on a stone bench.
There was a long, elaborate mural of a pastoral scene of the Wisconsin countryside surrounding Wittenberg. Here’s a small section of "Love Letter to Wittenberg", completed in 2018 by Artist Carole Bersin.
And it took us quite a while to find this one because it was on the back side of a warming house in the park. But it was worth the search because it reminds me so much of when we were kids and our small Catholic school of St. Joseph’s in East Bristol, Wisconsin, would flood the playground to make a skating pond for the kids. Note Reverend Homme’s face in the snow in the lower right corner of this mural entitled, "WHEEE!!!!", completed in 2012 by Artist Diane Haupt-Wilke of Gillett, Wisconsin.
As the sky turned darker and darker due to storm clouds looming overhead, we had one last mural we wanted to capture. It was a school mural called "Razed But Not Forgotten!!!", created in 2016 by Artists Brad and Kit Bandow of Elkhorn, Wisconsin. This mural was located on the side of the middle school, which was set back from the street we were on. As I got ready to grab my camera, the storm grew worse, so I ran with only my camera (no time for a tripod) and snapped one shot before returning to the safety of the car.
As soon as we hit the road, the storms grew fierce and the two-and-a-half-hour drive home turned into something more like 5 hours. It was raining and blowing so hard that I pulled off numerous times, but it never let up and we couldn’t seem to drive out of it. Needless to say, we were lucky to get home that night and I was absolutely exhausted from more than a full day of photography and then such a long, harrowing drive home. But at least we finally captured most of the “Walls of Wittenberg!” For a detailed list of all the Wittenberg murals and a downloadable tour map, visit the Walls of Wittenberg website.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Showing posts with label murals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label murals. Show all posts
Thursday, June 11, 2020
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
The Greatest Free Show on Earth
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
We visited Circleville, Ohio, on a rainy, late April morning of 2013. I had a list of a few things around town that we wanted to photograph, including a couple of murals. I didn’t really have much history of the town at that time.
We were downtown shortly after dawn. Any hope we have of capturing street scenes has to happen at that early hour before the town folk begin their day.
We don’t find advertising for old five and dime stores very often, but we were lucky enough to find this ghost sign for one on an old brick building downtown.
Towering over the town is their water tower that was built in 1976 and repainted in 1997 to resemble a pumpkin. A stem was added to make it look a little more pumpkin-like.
The Circleville Pumpkin Show dates back to the fall of 1903 when George Haswell invited local farmers to display their fall harvest on the streets of Circleville. The first year, it was a very small display.
The next year, the displays grew. Because of the predominance of pumpkins, the term “The Pumpkin Show“ was coined, and by 1905, the first ride appeared. Today there are over 30 rides and around 300 vendors.
In the middle of downtown, muralist Eric Henn created a 100th anniversary mural. The anniversary was celebrated in 2006 because the show had been postponed for 1 year during World War I and 2 years during World War II.
The mural is so life-like, you feel like you could step right into the scene. There are horses pulling wagonloads of pumpkins and displays of pumpkins down the street.
Eric painted a second mural in town for the bicentennial in 2010. The mural features the first Pickaway County courthouse.
For years, the unofficial mascot of “The Pumpkin Show” has been the roller-skating, costumed Pumpkin Man. He makes his way around town during the festival.
The Pumpkin Show is called The Greatest Free Show on Earth because there is no entrance fee. Of course you’ll pay for rides and the various foods you want to try, but there’s no fee to wander around the 8-block festival. You can also watch any or all of the seven parades during the festival.
We may never be in Circleville during the festival which is held beginning on the third Wednesday of every October and lasts until Saturday, but if you’re looking for a fall trip, keep Circleville, Ohio in mind.
Happy Halloween and Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
We visited Circleville, Ohio, on a rainy, late April morning of 2013. I had a list of a few things around town that we wanted to photograph, including a couple of murals. I didn’t really have much history of the town at that time.
We were downtown shortly after dawn. Any hope we have of capturing street scenes has to happen at that early hour before the town folk begin their day.
We don’t find advertising for old five and dime stores very often, but we were lucky enough to find this ghost sign for one on an old brick building downtown.
Towering over the town is their water tower that was built in 1976 and repainted in 1997 to resemble a pumpkin. A stem was added to make it look a little more pumpkin-like.
The Circleville Pumpkin Show dates back to the fall of 1903 when George Haswell invited local farmers to display their fall harvest on the streets of Circleville. The first year, it was a very small display.
The next year, the displays grew. Because of the predominance of pumpkins, the term “The Pumpkin Show“ was coined, and by 1905, the first ride appeared. Today there are over 30 rides and around 300 vendors.
In the middle of downtown, muralist Eric Henn created a 100th anniversary mural. The anniversary was celebrated in 2006 because the show had been postponed for 1 year during World War I and 2 years during World War II.
The mural is so life-like, you feel like you could step right into the scene. There are horses pulling wagonloads of pumpkins and displays of pumpkins down the street.
Eric painted a second mural in town for the bicentennial in 2010. The mural features the first Pickaway County courthouse.
For years, the unofficial mascot of “The Pumpkin Show” has been the roller-skating, costumed Pumpkin Man. He makes his way around town during the festival.
The Pumpkin Show is called The Greatest Free Show on Earth because there is no entrance fee. Of course you’ll pay for rides and the various foods you want to try, but there’s no fee to wander around the 8-block festival. You can also watch any or all of the seven parades during the festival.
We may never be in Circleville during the festival which is held beginning on the third Wednesday of every October and lasts until Saturday, but if you’re looking for a fall trip, keep Circleville, Ohio in mind.
Happy Halloween and Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Sunny Slopes of the Backroads
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes. Just click on the desired photo and look for the blue “BUY” button.
There is so much to see when we are out on the backroads. I can research cities and towns pretty easily, and sometimes I can find locations of backroad sites, but one of our favorite things is stumbling on the creativity of people living on the backroads we travel.
In the fall of 2006, we were driving around in Richland County, Wisconsin. In those days, we had an old style Wisconsin gazetteer. It was a great map, but it didn’t have any overlap on the pages. Oftentimes, when we crossed to another page, I was lost for several minutes or more because roads seemed to be missing or didn’t line up. But on this day, I took a chance and navigated us to a section of the county right on the edge of a page.
And what a stroke of luck that was! We came upon this mural on the side of a garage. The mural was made up of a series of pine trees on hillsides. The background was a beautiful sunrise/sunset scene.
But now look at how creative this mural really is! This series of pine trees on hillsides makes up the words “sunny slopes.”
We were amazed! From farther away, it was plain to see the words and harder to see what the letters were made up of, but the closer we got, the more the lines of pine trees became apparent, and the less easy it was to make out the words. We had to turn around and drive back so we could show just how creative this artist was!
It didn’t seem to be related to any business, just a country person expressing their creativity. And we sure appreciate it! We hope when you travel the backroads, you have your eyes open for these kinds of creative displays.
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes. Just click on the desired photo and look for the blue “BUY” button.
There is so much to see when we are out on the backroads. I can research cities and towns pretty easily, and sometimes I can find locations of backroad sites, but one of our favorite things is stumbling on the creativity of people living on the backroads we travel.
In the fall of 2006, we were driving around in Richland County, Wisconsin. In those days, we had an old style Wisconsin gazetteer. It was a great map, but it didn’t have any overlap on the pages. Oftentimes, when we crossed to another page, I was lost for several minutes or more because roads seemed to be missing or didn’t line up. But on this day, I took a chance and navigated us to a section of the county right on the edge of a page.
And what a stroke of luck that was! We came upon this mural on the side of a garage. The mural was made up of a series of pine trees on hillsides. The background was a beautiful sunrise/sunset scene.
But now look at how creative this mural really is! This series of pine trees on hillsides makes up the words “sunny slopes.”
We were amazed! From farther away, it was plain to see the words and harder to see what the letters were made up of, but the closer we got, the more the lines of pine trees became apparent, and the less easy it was to make out the words. We had to turn around and drive back so we could show just how creative this artist was!
It didn’t seem to be related to any business, just a country person expressing their creativity. And we sure appreciate it! We hope when you travel the backroads, you have your eyes open for these kinds of creative displays.
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Rosemary Clooney
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
Every year during the holiday season, I watch one of my favorite movies, “White Christmas,” a 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a popular song-and-dance act. It also stars Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen as the Haynes Sisters, another song-and-dance act.
In April of this year, Ruth and I visited Rosemary Clooney’s hometown of Maysville, Kentucky. After spending the night in Aberdeen, Ohio, we crossed the Ohio River at dawn on the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge, a beautiful suspension bridge built in 1931 to connect Aberdeen to Maysville.
We headed for the Maysville Downtown Historic District and parked near the Russell Theatre. In 1929, local businessman Col. J. B. Russell announced plans to build a 700-seat movie palace on the site of a grocery warehouse owned by the Russell family.
The theatre was designed in the atmospheric style that was popular in America in the 1920s. The dome was filled with twinkling stars and floating clouds. And when each movie ended, a rainbow would appear over the stage.
Four large columns with decorative capitals mark the theatre entrance. The entrance is clad in Cincinnati Rookwood tiles, including the ticket booth.
The Russell Theatre served the Maysville area from 1930 until it closed in 1983. Following its closing, the building was used for several businesses, including a restaurant and a used furniture store. Eventually, the building was abandoned and fell into serious disrepair.
In 1996, a group of Maysville citizens purchased the building and began efforts to raise the funds necessary to restore the theatre. In 1999, Rosemary Clooney founded the annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival to benefit the restoration of the theatre.
Rosemary Clooney’s first film, “The Stars Are Singing,” premiered at the Russell Theater in 1953. There is a sidewalk star in front of the theatre entrance honoring Ms. Clooney and her film debut.
In case you’re wondering, actor/director/producer George Clooney is the nephew of Rosemary Clooney. His father, Nick Clooney, newsman and former host of American Movie Classics, is Rosemary’s brother.
The Clooney family has not only supported the restoration of the Russell Theatre, but also the restoration of Maysville’s Washington Opera House, the fifth oldest performing arts theatre in the United States. In 2008, the Washington Opera House held the premiere showing of George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” movie.
After we finished photographing numerous buildings in the downtown historic district, we visited the Maysville floodwall to see the mural honoring Rosemary Clooney. The mural, completed in 2007 by Dafford Murals, depicts highlights from Rosemary’s life and career.
We then left the downtown area and went in search of one final piece of history in the life of Rosemary Clooney: her final resting place. High on a hill outside of Maysville is the beautiful St. Patrick Cemetery, where Rosemary was laid to rest. The cemetery is relatively small, so we thought it wouldn’t take us long to find her gravestone. But we were wrong.
We drove slowly through the cemetery looking carefully on both sides of the gravel road trying to locate her grave. After checking each section twice, we still hadn’t located it. We discussed leaving without this final piece of history. But we’re not ones to give up easily. Finally, with a little more detective work on Ruth’s part, we found her grave. Now our work was complete.
Getting back to the movie “White Christmas,” Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen (the Haynes Sisters) performed a number called “Sisters.” It began with “Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.” And one of the lines is, “All kinds of weather, we stick together, the same in the rain or sun.”
It reminded me to take this opportunity to thank my sister, Ruth, for all she does to make the sharing of my photography possible.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Every year during the holiday season, I watch one of my favorite movies, “White Christmas,” a 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a popular song-and-dance act. It also stars Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen as the Haynes Sisters, another song-and-dance act.
In April of this year, Ruth and I visited Rosemary Clooney’s hometown of Maysville, Kentucky. After spending the night in Aberdeen, Ohio, we crossed the Ohio River at dawn on the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge, a beautiful suspension bridge built in 1931 to connect Aberdeen to Maysville.
We headed for the Maysville Downtown Historic District and parked near the Russell Theatre. In 1929, local businessman Col. J. B. Russell announced plans to build a 700-seat movie palace on the site of a grocery warehouse owned by the Russell family.
The theatre was designed in the atmospheric style that was popular in America in the 1920s. The dome was filled with twinkling stars and floating clouds. And when each movie ended, a rainbow would appear over the stage.
Four large columns with decorative capitals mark the theatre entrance. The entrance is clad in Cincinnati Rookwood tiles, including the ticket booth.
The Russell Theatre served the Maysville area from 1930 until it closed in 1983. Following its closing, the building was used for several businesses, including a restaurant and a used furniture store. Eventually, the building was abandoned and fell into serious disrepair.
In 1996, a group of Maysville citizens purchased the building and began efforts to raise the funds necessary to restore the theatre. In 1999, Rosemary Clooney founded the annual Rosemary Clooney Music Festival to benefit the restoration of the theatre.
Rosemary Clooney’s first film, “The Stars Are Singing,” premiered at the Russell Theater in 1953. There is a sidewalk star in front of the theatre entrance honoring Ms. Clooney and her film debut.
In case you’re wondering, actor/director/producer George Clooney is the nephew of Rosemary Clooney. His father, Nick Clooney, newsman and former host of American Movie Classics, is Rosemary’s brother.
The Clooney family has not only supported the restoration of the Russell Theatre, but also the restoration of Maysville’s Washington Opera House, the fifth oldest performing arts theatre in the United States. In 2008, the Washington Opera House held the premiere showing of George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” movie.
After we finished photographing numerous buildings in the downtown historic district, we visited the Maysville floodwall to see the mural honoring Rosemary Clooney. The mural, completed in 2007 by Dafford Murals, depicts highlights from Rosemary’s life and career.
We then left the downtown area and went in search of one final piece of history in the life of Rosemary Clooney: her final resting place. High on a hill outside of Maysville is the beautiful St. Patrick Cemetery, where Rosemary was laid to rest. The cemetery is relatively small, so we thought it wouldn’t take us long to find her gravestone. But we were wrong.
We drove slowly through the cemetery looking carefully on both sides of the gravel road trying to locate her grave. After checking each section twice, we still hadn’t located it. We discussed leaving without this final piece of history. But we’re not ones to give up easily. Finally, with a little more detective work on Ruth’s part, we found her grave. Now our work was complete.
Getting back to the movie “White Christmas,” Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen (the Haynes Sisters) performed a number called “Sisters.” It began with “Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters.” And one of the lines is, “All kinds of weather, we stick together, the same in the rain or sun.”
It reminded me to take this opportunity to thank my sister, Ruth, for all she does to make the sharing of my photography possible.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
“Market Square”
By Joann M. Ringelstetter
In June, I published a blog post about the “Rivermen” mural in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which we visited in September, 2012. After photographing that mural, Ruth and I located the largest of the many murals that were painted for the community by muralist Kelly Meredith.
This mural stretches across two sides of a brick building located on the square and it shows the activity on the market square in the early part of the twentieth century. It was inspired by a postcard photograph of Stock Fair Day in 1911.
In days gone by, Market Square was a meeting place for loggers and other early townspeople. Today, it serves as a marketplace for local farmers who sell fresh produce every Saturday morning from May through October.
Kelly painted this mural in 2006 between Memorial Day and Labor Day, finishing it in time for the Annual “Dozynki” (Polish Thanksgiving) Harvest Fest. This might seem like enough of a feat for a muralist to accomplish, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that she captured the faces of 130 different Stevens Point residents from the past and the present.
According to a local news story, Kelly said she wanted the community to take pride in local individuals from Stevens Point. She considered her artwork to be taking local history to a more intimate level by honoring actual people who ran or are currently running local businesses.
In order to raise funds for the project, faces were “for sale,” and community residents provided photos of friends and family members to be honored as a member of the crowd depicted in the mural.
Now, for a little fun, let’s play a game of “Where’s Waldo” (aka “Where’s Joann”). I am actually in three of the photos in this blog post. Did you notice me in any of the previous photos? After taking several photos of the mural that day, I left my camera on the tripod, started the timer, and ran into the scene to have my picture taken with the townspeople in the mural. I did this several times.
Near one end of the mural, there is a back door to a local tavern. As I went back and forth from the camera to the mural, people who were coming and going through that back door were entertained by my shenanigans and were watching me closely.
Did you find all three photos where I inserted myself? If not, you might have to click on the photos to bring them up in a larger size. You will then be in the photo gallery and will have to hit the back button on your browser to return to this blog post.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this story and my little game. If you’re ever in Stevens Point, make it a point to visit this wonderful mural, which is located in the downtown Public Square.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
In June, I published a blog post about the “Rivermen” mural in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which we visited in September, 2012. After photographing that mural, Ruth and I located the largest of the many murals that were painted for the community by muralist Kelly Meredith.
This mural stretches across two sides of a brick building located on the square and it shows the activity on the market square in the early part of the twentieth century. It was inspired by a postcard photograph of Stock Fair Day in 1911.
In days gone by, Market Square was a meeting place for loggers and other early townspeople. Today, it serves as a marketplace for local farmers who sell fresh produce every Saturday morning from May through October.
Kelly painted this mural in 2006 between Memorial Day and Labor Day, finishing it in time for the Annual “Dozynki” (Polish Thanksgiving) Harvest Fest. This might seem like enough of a feat for a muralist to accomplish, but it’s even more impressive when you consider that she captured the faces of 130 different Stevens Point residents from the past and the present.
According to a local news story, Kelly said she wanted the community to take pride in local individuals from Stevens Point. She considered her artwork to be taking local history to a more intimate level by honoring actual people who ran or are currently running local businesses.
In order to raise funds for the project, faces were “for sale,” and community residents provided photos of friends and family members to be honored as a member of the crowd depicted in the mural.
Now, for a little fun, let’s play a game of “Where’s Waldo” (aka “Where’s Joann”). I am actually in three of the photos in this blog post. Did you notice me in any of the previous photos? After taking several photos of the mural that day, I left my camera on the tripod, started the timer, and ran into the scene to have my picture taken with the townspeople in the mural. I did this several times.
Near one end of the mural, there is a back door to a local tavern. As I went back and forth from the camera to the mural, people who were coming and going through that back door were entertained by my shenanigans and were watching me closely.
Did you find all three photos where I inserted myself? If not, you might have to click on the photos to bring them up in a larger size. You will then be in the photo gallery and will have to hit the back button on your browser to return to this blog post.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this story and my little game. If you’re ever in Stevens Point, make it a point to visit this wonderful mural, which is located in the downtown Public Square.
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)