GREENFIELD — Kristen Colwell’s three daughters love painting and making art, so she figured what better way to help them express themselves than on a 22-by-64-foot-wide canvas.
Colwell and her daughters — ages 7, 10 and 11 — were among the dozens of local residents who came out to help paint a community mural last weekend on the side of the Ford’s Flooring building in downtown Greenfield, just southwest of the H.J. Ricks Center for the Arts.
The project is being led by Greenfield Main Street, a local nonprofit that strives to enhance and promote the historic downtown.
Greenfield-Central High School art teacher Lisa Sears was commissioned to create the design — a collage of local landmarks punctuated by vivid, bold colors like orange, yellow, fuchsia and aqua blue.
“The other murals downtown each have their own looks, but we wanted to do something different with this one, something a little more modern,” said Monica Holden, a board member and former director of Greenfield Main Street.
Holden, who is also an artist, was thrilled to see so many turn out Sunday to grab a paint brush and fill-in the design Sears had created.
Roughly 160 volunteers signed up for a time slot to paint over the weekend, but Saturday’s kickoff was delayed a day due to rain.
“We just moved here from out of state, so I thought this would be a great way for my girls to be able to express their creative side and get involved with the community,” said Colwell, who lives in New Palestine.
She and her daughters worked side by side Sunday, using a depiction of the finished mural to fill in outlines of local landmarks like the county courthouse, the Riley home, the entrance to Riley Park, and the stars and torch from the Indiana stage flag, as well as the the lighted towers on the I-70 overpass leading into town.
“I think it will be really cool to drive by and know we helped with this,” said 10-year-old Valerie as she dabbed her brush in bright pink paint. “I think it’s really cool that the community wanted to do this together.”
Daniela Bell also brought her daughters out for the community paint day Sunday.
“I thought it would be something fun to do together, and the girls love to paint,” said Bell, mother to Hannah, 13, and Emilia, 6.
Holden loved seeing so many families and individuals turn out Sunday to help with the project, which she said was about a year in the making.
“It’s been a year-long labor of love,” said Holden, as a row of volunteers added color to the mural, while Sears filled in areas up high from atop a lift.
The mural was funded with a $25,000 Ignite grant from the Community Foundation of Hancock County.
Holden credited the community foundation as well as the building owner, who owns Ford’s Flooring, for making the mural possible.
She also commended Greenfield Main Street’s new director, Erin Fiepel, for jumping right in and embracing the sizable project.
“She’s done a tremendous job,” Holden said.
Holden said she anticipates more murals will pop up throughout downtown Greenfield as city officials work toward making the area a certified arts and cultural district through the state.
By the end of the day Sunday, the mural was more than 75% complete.
“We’re still playing it by ear, but it’s likely that we won’t need to have the community painting day scheduled for next weekend since it will probably be complete,” said Holden. “Lisa really just needs to put all the finishing touches on it this week.”
