The history and significance of murals in Wausau area
By Jim Force | Special to Wausau Pilot & Review
A person from the Stone Age three million years ago walking down a street in Wausau might not feel completely out of place.
This is because the numerous murals appearing in increasing numbers on the sides of our buildings can remind us Paleolithic pedestrians of home.
The social or political context of the artwork may not be understandable, but the old-timers will probably understand that there is a message somewhere between the brightly colored pictures and designs. After all, this kind of artwork has been around for a long time—with ancient pictographs traced back to the early cave dwellers and found all over the earth.
According to sources such as Wall Art and Youth Murals, this type of art has been around as long as humans have walked the earth.
“People scratched, carved, etched and painted them” on stone surfaces.
Techniques
Older murals, such as those in the Sistine Chapel, often used the “fresco” technique of applying wet plaster mixed with colored pigments directly to plaster walls. Murals today are applied in a variety of traditional and non-traditional ways, often using acrylic or even digital techniques.
In the US, the appearance of murals roughly coincides with the beginning of graffiti and street art in the second half of the 1900s. Large metro areas with a cultural mix such as New York, San Francisco, LA and Miami are considered frontrunners. As they are here in Wausau and central Wisconsin, murals are experiencing a renaissance on private and public buildings and can have a dramatic impact on the attitudes of those who see them.
Joel Pataconi, art teacher and department chair at Wausau East High School, agrees.
“I do think that murals can help breathe life into and personalize a community,” he said. “Art can create more economic benefits than many realize. Plus, [art] makes us feel better to see it and have it in our spaces.”
Stand up
Artists and their sponsors often want the works to convey a specific message, or make a statement.
That was the motivation behind large city murals prepared by “Rise Up” – a local 501C3 organization committed to helping people overcome addictions and achieve their life’s purpose.
Tara Draeger leads the Rise Up team and says the idea behind the murals was to involve local artists and ordinary citizens in the dramatic depiction of hope and a path to recovery.
“It’s based on work we’ve seen in Philadelphia, and we thought we could bring it to Wausau,” Draeger said. “It connects patients to the community, and demonstrates community support as well as a sense of ownership.”
The process is just as important as the final product, and illustrates what art can do to address social change. She says it’s important that someone can say “I painted the eye.”
In the first project, 5×5 cloth panels were painted and installed on the south side of the Frontier Communications building on Fourth St.
In collaboration with the Women’s Community, the mural on the Whitewater Music Hall was painted on the exterior walls. It concludes with these words: “I may not make history. I may not be the smartest person. But I know this much, I can still get up. Stand up to be a strong person. Stand up to help others, Stand up to be the person someone will remember, even when I’m gone…”
“We’ve had great feedback,” Draeger said. “Our community loves art.”
She could have added, the community also cares about helping people.
Community spirit
Working together is the theme of a new mural at the brand new Community Partners campus on Grand Avenue.
A large colorful image of a handshake on an interior wall greets visitors to the new building and is designed to depict the community coming together to help those in need.
Rise Up, along with local muralist Stephanie Kohli, created the image and—following a cross-sectional paint-by-numbers approach—a group of local citizens filled in the colors during a one-day workshop. Stephanie says she designs a mural in Adobe Photoshop so the building owner can see what it will look like, then creates the image on paper panels that can be painted and glued together on the surface.
There is a clear social function to urban murals, she says. “They give people a voice. They represent energy and diversity.”
Kohli said she has created more than 40 murals in central Wisconsin, starting in 2017. Now she notes “they’re popping up everywhere.”
North Third Street
Social change was on the mind of Gisela Marks when, a few years back, she launched a mural project in the vicinity of her Glass Hat Bar on Third St., just north of the railroad tracks.
She says she felt the artwork could help draw attention to North Third and create an “art lives here” atmosphere. “Neighborhood and economic growth on our side of the tracks was my main motivation,” she says.
“There’s been a lot of support and development in the central downtown, and riverfront, but not on this side of the railroad tracks,” Marks said. “This could be a great little arts district.
“I still imagine the Alexander Walkway to be an outdoor sculpture garden.”
She was able to obtain a modest amount of funding and found artists interested in creating murals and property owners willing to let their buildings serve as canvases, as it were.
“We got submissions from a number of artists and chose 10 that we wanted to work with,” Marks said. The artists worked on their building paintings during the Arts Festival.
In all, Marks says 11-12 murals were created. In addition to her building, you’ll find murals on Loppnow’s bar, the Polack Inn, Black Purl knitting shop, and a number of other businesses and residences along Second and Third Streets.
Walls of Wittenberg
Urban murals are nothing new to the small town of Wittenberg, 30 miles east of Wausau.
Back in 2005, the community began sponsoring artists to design and paint murals on the walls of downtown buildings,
It was an attempt to put the town back on the map after State Highway 29 bypassed the town and motorists whizzed by without seeing more of Wittenberg than the water tower and the exit signs.
According to their website, Lois Smith, one of the town’s leaders, saw murals on buildings while vacationing in Florida and thought the idea could be transferred north. This led to the creation of a 501C3 charity called the “Walls of Wittenberg.” The organization raises money to fund murals and artist fees.
To date, more than 30 murals have been created by artists who have been invited to participate. “We get a good variety of artists,” said Elaine Diffor, vice president of the Walls Project. “It’s nice to meet them.”
One of the most popular is the long mural depicting Green Bay Packer history on the side of the supermarket. It was designed by Packer fans, was approved by the Packer organization and took over a year to create. Diffor says it’s the site of tailgate parties before Packer games during football season.
Another favorite is a “trompe-l’oeil” mural of a building. The phrase is French, meaning “to deceive the eye” and make the image appear three-dimensional.
Did the murals serve their tourism purpose? Yes, say promoters. Bus tours and visitors mainly come into town to pick up a brochure and map and walk around the town center looking at the designs.
More to come?
“I’ve always thought the support and infrastructure that Wausau has for the arts is impressive for a city of its size,” said Pataconi, referring to the Woodson Art Museum, Center for Visual Arts, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Grand Theatre, Performing Arts Center and Wausau Conservatory.
“It’s fantastic to see city leaders, officials and community organizations embracing it and contributing with the downtown developments and recent murals. We need to celebrate it in our community and have an awareness of how special it makes Wausau. Involving students and residents in their creation provides a sense of ownership, responsibility and place that will hopefully encourage people to care about our city and stay.”
Adds Marks, “Art is one of those constants. No matter what’s going on in the world, art endures.”
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