Artist proposes mural for Fairfield’s railroad underpass

FAIRFIELD – Fairfield’s railroad underpass at North Second Street is covered in graffiti, but a local artist hopes to change that by painting a mural on it.

Fairfield resident Chad Starling presented an idea to the Fairfield City Council in November to create a mural that would wrap around both of the pillars of the underpass that hold up the railroad tracks. The art would feature the phrase “Bloom and Grow” written over and over again in a wavy pattern with bright backgrounds of yellow, green, blue and other colors.

Starling is working with the Fairfield Volunteer Center, which has taken the lead on pushing this project from concept to reality, getting all the necessary permits from the agencies that control the underpass. That means getting the approval of not just the city of Fairfield, but also the state since that road is part of state Highway 1, and of the railroad company, Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

Shanaz Kreider of the Fairfield Volunteer Center said the next step is to put together a budget for the mural and to start fundraising. That will include writing applications for grants. Starling said that, if enough money can be raised, painting on the mural could start next spring, and will take three to four months.

Starling said his vision for the mural started 10 years ago when he moved to Fairfield to concentrate on his art career. While exploring the town on one of his many walks, he came upon the Second Street underpass.

“It hit me as the perfect mural spot,” he said. “But I thought, ‘Where would I even start getting permission to do it?’”

Starling shared his idea for a mural with Kreider. She thought that was interesting, because she had driven through that underpass many times and had never paid any attention to the graffiti on it.

“When Chad brought it to my attention, that same day I parked there and looked at [the underpass], and I said, ‘How awful! How could I have never seen this before?’” Kreider said. “I took pictures of it, and the more I looked at the pictures, the more determined I got to do something about it.”

Kreider and the Fairfield Volunteer Center started putting out feelers to see if this project was worth pursuing. She talked to Tony Webb, who knew the public relations director for BNSF. She also spoke with Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer, who liked the idea and encouraged Kreider and Starling to bring it before the council. After speaking with the relevant groups with jurisdiction over the underpass, it seemed like this mural might be doable.

Kreider said the FVC had not traditionally been involved in promoting public art pieces, until earlier this year when it initiated a project with the Fairfield Cultural Alliance to install signs in city parks encouraging people to throw away their trash. Kreider said she and the other members of the FVC also feel strongly that this mural project will be great for the city, so they’ve gotten behind it.

Starling said he likes doing text-based, abstract art. He created a similar text-based piece of art which was shown at the beginning of the documentary “Ahead of Their Time” by Fair Field Productions.

For this mural project, Starling came up with 10 possible phrases to use as part of a repeating pattern of text to cover the pillars. With the help of the Fairfield Volunteer Center, that list was whittled down to six phrases, and they were taken to the mayor. Boyer looked over the list and selected the phrase “Bloom and Grow” as her favorite. Starling and the FVC members agreed that was the best, too.

“It has so many different meanings,” Starling said. “Someone on Facebook was like, ‘Where did that come from? The Sound of Music?’”

Starling said he liked the idea of painting a mural on the underpass partly to cover up the graffiti there.

“I rarely saw anything that was positive,” he said. “I know that kids think it’s fun to graffiti. They’re usually just looking for an open canvas. When it comes to someone’s artwork, it’s much less prone to being graffitied.”

Starling said he’s hoping that his mural will discourage anyone from spray-painting overtop of it, but even if they do, the mural will be covered in a sealant so that new paint can be wiped away.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com