Muralists discuss festival with community

Members of the community were invited to go up and talk with the artists at the conclusion of the panel discussion on Tuesday night at the Peeler Art Center on the campus of DePauw University.

Banner Graphic/CODEY EMERSON

The Peeler Art Center on the campus of Depauw University was nearly full on Tuesday evening as the Putnam County Mural Project hosted a panel discussion with its featured artists who are painting murals across Putnam County.

The artists shared their stories and answered questions from the audience on their work and their careers. The panel discussion was moderated by Putnam County Mural Foundation co-founder Alexandra Chamberlain.

Chamberlain began the discussion by stating that at the very beginning of this project, they had 284 applications for this project and narrowed it down to the eight finalists. Those artists include Noé Barnett, Anthony Brooks, Emily Eldridge, Naomi Haverland, Angie Jerez, Matt Rees, Brooke Smart and Holly Sims. While six of the artists are from around the country and even the world like Eldridge who is from Barcelona, Spain, there are two special artists who reside right here in Putnam County, as both Sims and Rees are getting the chance to brighten up the place they call home.

“Most of these artists have been working tirelessly for what’s going to be almost two weeks to bring their murals to life,” Chamberlain said as she addressed the crowd. “They put in 12-hour days sun up and sun down and we’re so excited to welcome them here so that than can showcase their amazing talents and brighten up our community.”

One of the first questions that Chamberlain posed to the artists was a simple yet complicated one of simply “Where do you start?” Both Smart and Brooks gave their answers to the audience.

“I always like looking up the history of whatever building or town that I’m going to be working in,” Brooks said. “For me it’s about being able to find a way to relate to whatever I’m working on. Every project differs pretty vastly so being able to find your own to connect to something that you are seeing for the first time is a big thing for me.”

Smart is working on her mural right in front of Cloverdale Elementary School. When completely finished, the kids will be able to look out their windows and see Smart’s work. What makes her mural a little challenging and different from most is that she’s painting on a round water tank and noted how getting to interact with the young kids has been what’s motivated her.

“The water tank really stuck out to me because those kids look out at it every single day,” she said. “When they found out they could get a mural in their community, they wrote a bunch of letters and that’s what really inspired me. I’ve always enjoyed working with children, and they even came out to visit me while I was working because they were so enamored with color and having something fun coming to their school.”

Another question that was posed to the artists was how they disconnect from their work. With everyone excluding Sims and Rees not being from the area, they won’t get to see their work maybe at all once they head back home. Barnett and Eldridge took the time to answer that question.

“With murals and street art, you get used to things getting covered up as time goes by,” Eldridge said. “I do try and document my work very well with photos. In this line of work letting go is something you just have to do. I try to not get too attached as that will make it that much harder when you’re done.”

Barnett added on to Eldridge’s comments with his answer.

“Being able to take a step back and look at the big picture is what I’ve really tried to do,” he said. “I’ve worked with flowers a lot and they give us beauty for a short time then die, so that’s kind of the approach I take with murals. I tell myself and others to enjoy them while they still are here.”

The last question that Chamberlain asked was another important one: Do you care if it lasts? Haverland chimed in with her response.

“The appeal to me is the process that goes into creating what I do,” Haverland said. “I get the enjoyment and satisfaction from the work that I put in. It doesn’t matter to me really once I’m done if it lasts. I’d rather it not last forever because I’ve grown as an artist and I’m able to showcase that growth.”

The growth that the Mural Foundation has seen since its first project in 2019 has been almost astronomical. From having just over 60 applicants to now nearly 300, Chamberlain was overwhelmed in the best way possible with the interest that Putnam County is receiving.

“I remember sitting there thinking to myself, ‘how in the world are we going to get through all of these applications?”’ she said with a grin. “It was simply astounding to see. The process of narrowing it down to these final eight was heavily community driven. We had a group of around 30 people come together and review a chunck of applicants. They narrowed it down from those chunks then we narrowed it to down to these final eight from there. It was simply a group that was interested in making Putnam County better.”

Part of the application process for the artists is they have to explain why they specifically want to come to Putnam County and what sort of community engagement work they’ve been a part of. The collaboration between the Mural Society, the eight muralists, and the community is a big reason why these murals have been so successful.

There will be two opportunities for the community to come out and see two of the murals this Saturday. The first will be from 3-4:30 p.m. at Cancilla Park located at 709 Ohio St. here in Greencastle and the other will be from 6-8 p.m. at 114 N. Indiana St. There will be live entertainment, food, and a ribbon cutting as both events are free and open to the public.