Latest Charles City mural projects ready to begin; artist open house planned Sept. 20

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Arts Center will host an open house reception for the two newest “Town of Colors” mural artists next Wednesday, Sept. 20. The artists themselves should be arriving in the community this week and early next week to begin work on the projects.

The reception, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Arts Center, is sponsored by Tellurian Brewing and is free and open to the public.

Artists Molly Keen and Andrea Ehrhardt will both be at the event to talk about their work and the murals they will have begun painting in Charles City.

Dean Andrews, a member of the Town of Colors Committee, said Kean will create a mural on the building at 200 N. Main St. that is owned by Tonette Noah, where Kloberdanz Insurance is located.

Andrews said the committee power-washed the side of the building along Clark Street where the mural will be painted, and he and committee member Linda Wolff helped prime the side of the building on Thursday.

The mural design – as usual a collaboration of the artist, the committee and the building owner –  will have a theme of “Bridging the Community,” Andrews said, and will feature an image incorporating a theme of bridges and rivers.

The mural was initially intended to cover just the west half of that side of the building, to where the entry alcove is located. But Andrews said the artist thought it would look better to paint the entire side of the building and she would be willing to do it for the original price.

Everyone agreed and so that’s the plan, Andrews said.

Although Andrews is the Charles City mayor, he emphasized that he’s involved with the project as a member of the Town of Colors Committee, not as a city official, and that the murals are not city projects.

All funds for the murals come from grants and donations, with the building owners usually contributing 10% of the cost.

Ehrhardt will be creating a mural on the Furniture Barn building on 9th Street, along South grand Avenue. It will have kind of a country theme, with a figure on a motorcycle going down a country road in honor of Furniture Barn founder and longtime owner Terry Michael “Mike” Duggan, who died a year ago in June, Andrews said.

The scene will shift through the four seasons as it goes from one side to the other, he said, adding, “It’s actually kind of cool.”

Andrews said the committee is still looking for a location for a “Charles City postcard” mural idea, and it will likely be next year before that project is done. They are also hoping to do another mural next year, by an artist who had applied for this year’s projects and whose work the committee members really liked.

One of this year’s artists, Molly Keen, has spent most of her time on the West Coast, in Washington, Oregon and California, but she said she is “more nomadic” these days, taking her art on the road in a van she calls, “VanGo.”

Keen has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washington State University and has painted murals full-time for the last decade. Her work can be seen in 38 cities across 22 different countries.

Andrea Ehrhardt arrives in Charles City from Rogersville, Missouri. She studied business and painting at Missouri State University and got her start in the art world by painting logos and murals for Bass Pro Shops in their newly opening stores across the US.

“The Arts Center is excited to welcome them to town and (is) ready for two more murals,” said CCAC Assistant Director Karl Haglund, who added that he hopes that the people of Charles City realize how important these murals are to the future growth of the city.

“Charles City is a great community, but like every town or city these days, there can exist a sense of ‘sameness’ – same buildings, same grocery stores and convenience stores etc. It can be difficult to stand out,” he said.

“These murals help to set us apart and give us a greater sense of identity. The more we do that, the more enticing we will be to new businesses and people,” Haglund said.

The Charles City Arts Center is located at 301 N. Jackson Street across from Central Park. For more information contact 641-228-6284 or charlescityarts@gmail.com.