| That mural was
painted indoors on plywood panels and then erected on the side of a building. The Rails to
Trails murals is being painted directly on the side of Lakeside Foods. The canning company generously agreed to donate its wall for the mural and also
did special work to prepare the wall section for mural painting. The site is very
appropriate for a mural that depicts how railroads have been important to the Reedsburg
community and how a portion of old railroad bed has been converted to a new use as the 400
Trail.
Bikers on the 400 Trail ride past the mural every day, often waving to
the artists as they work. Lakeside Foods is also an active railroad customer with train
cars parked by the building much of the year.
The principal mural artists are Martin, Richard Dipping, Monica Liegel,
Jessica Huxman, and Amberly Mae. Other volunteers are Lucy Schonfeld and Vickie Wildes.
In addition to the support of Lakeside Foods, the Rails to Trails mural
also has received financial support from the Sauk County Arts, Humanities and Historic
Preservation Committee, the Webb Fund, and the Reedsburg Room Tax Commission.
Other donations have been made by Gerber, Co-op Country Partners,
Community First Bank, and St. Peter's Ladies Aid. In-kind donations have come from Hartje
Lumber, Reedsburg True Value Superstore, Sherwin Williams of Baraboo, Kraemer Bros., Dietz
Cabinet Designs, and Tom Alibrando.
Another $4000 still needs to be raised to support the project. All
donations are tax deductible. Checks should be made out to Wormfarm Institute Mural
Project and mailed to E7904 Briar Bluff Road, Reedsburg, WI 53959. There also will be a
donation box at the Do-It Center, right across Main Street from the mural.
Work on the mural actually started in January with the first
organizational meetings. About 12 to 14 meetings were held in the design stages. Major
progress was made when Kyle Martin stepped forward as the mural designer.
Small paintings were done on each section so everyone involved could get
a conceptual idea of what is involved and the colors used. To transfer the mural up to the
big wall, a grid system was used with one inch on the model mural equalling one foot on
the real wall.
Right now the mural artists are in the process of putting down the
primary colors. The detail work will come as the mural nears completion.
Some things have changed in the process. Richard Dipping, who is
painting the train, has changed its proportions a little bit since starting the large
mural.
The locomotive pictured is one of those used during the early 1930's
when the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad's 400 Train ran between Chicago and
Minneapolis.
At the 1930 Chicago World Fair the first streamliner diesel locomotives
were introduced. The C&NW's rival, the Milwaukee Road, announced plans to use a
Streamliner to make a high speed run on the route.
The Chicago and Northwestern's response was to modify some of its
existing steam locomotives to make the high speed passenger run, completing the route in
400 minutes or less. Dipping says the C&NW started the 400 trains first with
locomotives, beating the Milwaukee Road into service. The Chicago and Northwestern did not
switch to Streamliners for another four or five years.
The locomotive Dipping is painting on the Lakeside Foods wall is actual
scale. In the background, when the mural is finished will be another train. Dipping
explains that before railroads assigned numbers to its locomotives, it named them just
like ships are named. Most railroads named the engines after cities on their lines.
One of the last locomotives named by the Chicago and Northwestern
Railroad was called the "Reedsburg" and that engine will be pulling the train in
the background of the mural. Dipping says he doesn't know if the "Reedsburg"
ever served on the Reedsburg line or not. He is the person working to make sure the mural
depictions of the trains are historically accurate.
Monica Liegel, a local historian, is monitoring the project, just like
she did the Woolen Mill mural, to make sure other parts of the mural are historically
accurate.
The hope is that the mural will take about eight weeks to complete,
which means the project will be done in late August if everything stays on schedule.
Artists are generally working there from 7 to 11 a.m. each day. That way they can avoid
the heat and glare of the summer sun.
They started the project with sun shading on the back of the scaffolding
but took it down because it wasn't working that well and it blocked the public's view of
the progress on the project.
The Rails to Trails mural is the second in a series of public murals,
which not only add to the attractiveness of the community but also may draw visitors here.
Possible subjects for future murals include the Saw Log War, the hops boom, dairy farming,
Agnes Moorehead, Clare Briggs, and the fight against the relocation of Ho-Chunk Nation
members from the area.
Source: reprinted from the Reedsburg Independent, Thursday, July 31,
2003 |
