Still painting the town
While new art exhibitions at museums are common, few are held outside, much less on the buildings themselves. Befitting a community known as the “City of Murals,” last month, a series of paintings on the exterior of the Boone County Historical Museum in Belvidere, Ill., was unveiled. The result of a resurrected four-year-old plan to complement the other brilliantly painted buildings in the downtown area, the nine murals each depict an event in the county’s history.
By 1997, murals had been painted on 10 historical buildings, prompting then-Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar to designate Belvidere as “The City of Murals.” Although open since 1965, the Boone County museum had boarded-up, bricked-in and painted-over windows, unlike other downtown structures, which showcase spectacular murals on their walls, inside and out. Soon after the city’s designation, though, a former museum director proposed painting the building’s windows with murals celebrating the history of the county. However, the idea languished for four years until museum board member Bob Edwards was appointed to the board of the county’s historical museum district in 2004. “[The idea] just struck a real spark with me,” says Edwards, now president of the district.
Edwards contacted Boone County’s nine townships — Manchester, Leroy, Caledonia, Poplar Grove, Boone, Bonus, Flora, Spring and Belvidere — to generate interest. All agreed, contributing $300 to help with the cost of the project. Edwards recognized an opportunity to continue with Belvidere’s unique architectural features. “There are many beautiful murals all over Belvidere,” Edwards says. “This [project] was a follow-up to continue with that theme.”
Each township submitted ideas and images that represented their past and present for the murals. In summer 2005, officials asked retired high school art teacher Kit Scheidenhelm to paint the nine works of art. With the help of a few assistants, including 12 high school students, the murals began to take form by the end of the year. Each mural, designed to fit the building’s 5-foot-by-8-foot windows, depicts the distinctive characteristics of the townships. “They’re not giant murals,” Edwards says. “But, they are big enough that they’re very striking.”
The murals feature the names of each township. Below the name, Scheidenhelm and his assistants painted images of rural scenes, such as farm silos, a tree-lined road and a horse and carriage.
On June 24, the museum displayed the murals at an event for residents and city officials. In addition, Belvidere is celebrating its 125th anniversary, a time that Edwards says is perfect for the unveiling. “We felt that the 125th anniversary is a wonderful focus time for the city and would be an opportune time to be a part of that,” Edwards says. “For Belvidere to have gone to this effort, I found that really intriguing and uplifting. [The murals are] such a positive addition to the appearance of our town.”