Painting the Town

Story by Debbie Miller

Photos by Nick Krug

The Baldwin City Community Mural Program, a joint project including the Lumberyard Arts Center, Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce and Baldwin City Library, unveiled its first mural in June 2017. Titled “The Maple Seed Fountain,” the inaugural artwork led by muralist Dave Loewenstein adorns a wall adjacent to the fire station. Painted at the center of the mural is a fountain surrounded by 10 maple seeds that depict images of the city’s history and culture such as the Women’s Bridge, Baker University and Signal Oak.

Empty, ordinary spaces throughout Baldwin City are turning into colorful canvases. Bare downtown walls, a wooden barn door, the Baker University maintenance building, and even benches in the park stand out with delightful murals painted by the community itself.

More than 100 residents had a hand in the first mural. That local touch is what sets this project apart, says Jeannette Blackmar, executive director of Lumberyard Arts Center and a mural program founder.

“We strive to involve community organizations, citizens and local artists. We have community paint days for every single mural,” Blackmar says. “When you paint, you are talking, telling stories and thinking of ideas. It’s a way to engage people and bring people together to create connections, a sense of community and build pride and trust. It’s the process that matters in creating a mural, not just the end result.”

So far, an array of artists, budding apprentices and volunteers, including families, seniors, young professionals and students, have all wielded paintbrushes for the town’s four completed murals.

“It engages everyone,” Blackmar says, adding that the first mural drew a big turnout during six community paint days.

Baldwin City High School art instructor Becky Weaver and her students have helped with all the murals.

“I love seeing people who don’t think they are at all artistic get involved and seeing their sense of pride at the end,” Weaver says. “Whether it’s convincing some students to show up to paint or working with a team to make their ideas visual, helping people tap into their creative side is the fun part for me.”

The process

Once a site is selected (typically a building’s blank cement wall), a “call to artists” goes out, asking for designs for the next mural. The winning artist then does the prep work, eventually projecting the design on the wall and outlining it in chalk. Both the lead artists and apprentices are paid for their work.

“Our apprentice program lets our local high school and college students work with experienced artists to create public art,” Blackmar explains.

When it comes to painting, the lead artist and committee do the top of the mural for safety purposes. The community is then invited to come and paint the rest. A protective polyurethane coat is the final step.

“From securing finances, to shopping for supplies, to setting up scaffolding, a single artists can’t do it alone. It takes a community,” Weaver says. That first mural and its whimsical maple seedpods still have some folks puzzled, Blackmar laughs. “What are those? Are they walruses,” she says some people have asked. “It really stirred a lot of talk, which is really good. That’s one of the reasons we do this, to get people talking and give them an opportunity to inform and explore.

The second mural, “Fall for Baldwin City,” is a nod to the town’s top tourist attraction, the fall Maple Leaf Festival. Painted on a barn door behind Lumberyard Arts Center, the two giant maple leaves are popular for selfies, especially at festival time.

The “Welcome Baldwin City” mural greets visitors arriving on US Highway 56. A street map is the backdrop, and the foreground features plants and flowers common to the area and a fox and ox, representing the local hard-working people.

The newest work, “Baker Family Tree,” spotlights Baker University. Fittingly, Baker student Elaena Steffen submitted the winning design, now painted on a campus maintenance building.

“I took an interterm class my freshman year called Coloring Our World. Our final project was to encapsulate the meaning and values of Baker through a mural. I presented my concept, and it was chosen to become a real mural here in Baldwin City,” Steffen says.

Her family tree “symbolizes that Baker is not just a college, not just a community, but a family,” she says. Each leaf represents something important to the Baker family, including the Taft Bridge, Parmenter Hall, chapel, bagpipes and international students.

“I have such a sense of pride being able to contribute and help design this mural,” Steffen says. “It is amazing to think that, even though I will move on and graduate in May, there will be a part of me forever marked into Baker and this community.”

Murals have also moved beyond walls to downtown’s Sullivan Square, where themed scenes painted on boards are affixed to the backs of five benches.

“There are a lot of untapped canvases,” Blackmar says. “We started downtown, but we envision murals created throughout the community.”

At least 10 more murals are slated to be created in Baldwin City; however, funding relies on donations from individuals and organizations.

Wendy Conover, director of the Baldwin City Library, a co-sponsor of the program, shares her passion for the mural project,

“I see the great economic and social impact that beautifying our downtown has, and how it gives our community a sense of belonging,” Conover says. “Art is very subjective, and not everyone likes the same kind of art, but everyone appreciates the color, energy and activity it generates. And at the core, all of our mural art tells the story of Baldwin City one way or another.”

MURAL WALKING TOUR

Take a stroll through downtown to admire the Baldwin City murals andlearn about the community’s history. Start your tour at the Maple SeedFountain mural (located near the fire station):

• The Maple Seed Fountain, 608 High Street, near the fire station

• Baker Family Tree, 702 Seventh Street, on the Baker University Facilities Building west of the tennis courts

• Five mural benches at Sullivan Square, 718 High Street

• Fall for Baldwin City, 718 High Street, in the alley between theLumberyard Arts Center and First United Methodist Church

• Welcome Baldwin City, 705 Eighth Street, near The Nook

Note: This walking tour can be done in a full circle in less than 15 minutes— depending on how long visitors spend with the captivating murals.

MAPPING OUT FUTURE MURALS

Coming this summer is the unique “HarmonyGarden,” combining nature, art and music onthe Baldwin City Library’s front lawn. Still in thedesign stage, a 10-foot-long mural depictingnature will be installed on the library’s redbrickwall. In front of the mural, three-foot-tall metalflowers and butterflies will sprout up in the grassy lawn. The metallic blue, orange and turquoiseflowers double as musical instruments, played with mallets that hang from the stems.

“You strike the petals of the flower with the mallet, and it makesdifferent tones like a xylophone,” Wendy Conover, director of BaldwinCity Library, explains.

“People will think it looks like an interesting garden, and thendiscover the metal flower sculptures are actually usable musicalinstruments,” she says. “We want to inspire them [community members]to come and see the mural, play the instruments and be in nature.”

The Harmony Garden is funded by a grant from the Douglas CountyCommunity Foundation, with support from Friends of the Library and an anonymous donation by a citizen.

Also in the planning stages is a mural in the Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce lobby. Currently soliciting artists to submit designs, the chamber and Main Street board (both composed of the same members) will select the winning idea with its creation slated to begin by April 2022.

“When visitors walk into the lobby of the chamber, an empty wallfaces them,” says chamber of commerce executive director Lori Trojan.“We thought this is simply a perfect location for a mural.”

Ideas for the mural include a map of Baldwin City, a caricature of thecommunity, as well as a large compass highlighting major attractions.

“It’s yet to be decided, based on ideas the artists are nowsubmitting,” Trojan says.

The lobby mural is just one piece of a “quasi museum” planned for the chamber office. Currently, the downtown office houses the town’s historic Betty Hagerman quilt and a gallery exhibit that traces the history of the Maple Leaf Festival. Yet to come is the lobby mural and also a historic timeline of Baldwin City history illustrated along a30-foot-long hallway.

“It’s our chamber and Main Street goal to attractmore attention to the city itself, bring in tourism and increase our economicvitality,” Trojan adds. “As part of that, we’d like to make the chamber office a real destination, not only for the community but for tourists, too.”

Through its current fundraising drive, the Chamberhopes to raise $2,500 forits mural project. For moreinformation or to donate:lumberyardartscenter.org.