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Mt. Pleasant gets a little more color
Murals add character throughout Mt. Pleasant
MT. PLEASANT — Through the creative work of local artist Annie Guldberg and the efforts of Main Street Mt. Pleasant, bright colors have begun to fill the town in the form of murals.
Last year Main Street Mt. Pleasant went to Mt. Pleasant City Council requesting an amendment to the city code pertaining to signs and billboards. Main Street asked the city to allow for hand-painted wall signs or murals to add to the cityscape of Mt. Pleasant.
Main Street successfully saw the amendment implemented and since then murals have popped up on the Taft-Wiley Inc. building and Brown’s Shoe Fit.
Thanks to the initial conversations about adding murals to the city code, Henry County Conservation Director Caleb Waters got the idea to add murals to Oakland Mills. Guldberg’s nature themed murals at Oakland Mills were completed last summer in the park as part of a beautification project.
As predicted by Main Street, these murals attract visitors hoping to score beautiful photos. In addition to draw tourists and locals out into the community, Main Street says adding murals to Mt. Pleasant adds personality and character, tells the city’s story, and shares its rich history.
Tourists were able to enjoy of the history and stories of Mt. Pleasant as they visited the town and found photo opportunities in front of the most recent mobile mural painted by Guldberg as it was set up in the square for the RAGBRAI festivities at the end of July. The mobile mural measures 12 feet by 8 feet and features various scenes from throughout Mt. Pleasant and its history.
This mobile mural is only a glimpse into a bigger mural Main Street hopes to put up on the side of the West Gateway into Mt. Pleasant, however, that project will take a little longer as they need to acquire more funds.
According to Oetken those interested in helping Main Street make the larger mural a reality can do so by donating to Main Street Mt. Pleasant in person at the office, through the mail, or calling Oetken for other options including credit card and Venmo donations.
While the mobile mural won’t always be available for viewing or to snap a photo with, Guldberg’s work can also be spotted behind Brown’s Shoe Fit. The nighttime farm scene is hard to miss when pulling into the alley behind the shop located on the square.
“Everything in the mural represents something really special for their family,” Guldberg explained. “It all has a lot of meeting for her family and husband’s family together.”
Another one of Guldberg’s work can be found just inside Henry County Public Health where she created a whimsical undersea scene. This mural, which adorns two walls in Public Health, was funded through a grant from the University of Iowa Health Care.
“The first thing everyone will notice is an underwater themed mural painted on two of the walls by local painter Annie Guldberg,” Public Health announced when they unveiled the mural. “The colorful mural full of sea creatures should help distract all kids by giving them something fun to focus on.”
While Guldberg is a lifelong artist, she began mural painting just a couple years ago, but in those years, she has accomplished quite a bit. Since beginning this new journey of her artistic career, Guldberg has painted nearly 2,600 square feet of murals and plans to continue growing that number.
“I’ve done quite a bit now,” Guldberg said. “I want to continue. I am booking jobs for the fall and winter and I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully I can keep helping people make their visions come to life.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com
