Murals add character to the entire Mt. Pleasant
MT. PLEASANT – Through the creative work of local artist Annie Guldberg and the efforts of Main Street Mt. Pleasant, bright colors in the form of murals have begun to fill the town.
Last year, Main Street Mt. Pleasant approached the Mt. Pleasant City Council requesting a change to the city’s ordinance regarding signs and billboards. Main Street asked the city to allow hand-painted wall signs or murals to enhance the Mt. Pleasant cityscape.
The change was successfully implemented on Main Street and murals have since appeared on the Taft-Wiley Inc. building and Brown’s Shoe Fit.
Thanks to early discussions about adding murals to the city’s code, Henry County Conservation Director Caleb Waters came up with the idea of adding murals to Oakland Mills. Guldberg’s nature-themed murals at Oakland Mills were completed last summer as part of a beautification project at the park.
Local artist Annie Guldberg said many young campers spent time with her as she worked 34 hours over seven days on this mural in Oakland Mills. (Photo submitted)
As predicted by Main Street, these murals attract visitors hoping for beautiful photos. Main Street says the murals not only attract tourists and locals to the community, but they also add personality and character, tell the story of the town and incorporate its rich history.
Tourists were able to enjoy the history and stories of Mt. Pleasant while visiting the town and found photo opportunities in front of Guldberg’s newest mobile mural, which was installed in the square for the RAGBRAI celebrations in late July. The mobile mural measures 12 x 8 feet and depicts various scenes from Mt. Pleasant and its history.
This mobile mural welcomed RAGBRAI to Mt. Pleasant in late July. (Photo by Dave Schneider)
This mobile mural is just a small taste of a larger mural that Main Street hopes to install on the side of the West Gateway to Mt. Pleasant. However, this project will take a little longer as more funding is needed.
According to Oetken, those who want to help Main Street make the larger mural a reality can do so by donating in person at the Main Street Mt. Pleasant office, doing so by mail, or calling Oetken about other options such as credit card and Venmo donations.
While the mobile mural is not always available for viewing or photographing, Guldberg’s work can also be spotted behind Brown’s Shoe Fit. The nighttime farm scene is hard to miss as you turn into the alley behind the store on the square.
A nighttime farm scene adorns the back of Brown’s Shoe Fit in Mt. Pleasant. (AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
An alley was given a new look with this mural by Annie Guldberg. (AnnaMarie Ward/The Union)
“Everything on the mural represents something very special for her family,” explained Guldberg. “It all has a lot to do with the encounter between her family and her husband’s family.”
Another of Guldberg’s works is at Henry County Public Health, where she created a whimsical underwater scene. This mural, which adorns two walls at Public Health, was funded by a grant from the University of Iowa Health Care.
“The first thing everyone will notice is an underwater-themed mural painted by local artist Annie Guldberg on two of the walls,” the health department announced at the mural’s unveiling. “The colorful mural filled with sea creatures is designed to distract any children by giving them something fun to focus on.”
Although Guldberg has been an artist her entire life, she only started painting murals a few years ago, but she has already accomplished quite a bit in those years. Since beginning this new journey in her artistic career, Guldberg has painted almost 2,600 square meters of murals and plans to continue to increase that number.
“I’ve done quite a lot now,” said Guldberg. “I want to keep going. I’m booking jobs for fall and winter and I’m really enjoying it. Hopefully I can keep helping people make their visions a reality.”
Comments: [email protected]
