Murals, day two

Work continued on the downtown murals on the Fourth of July. I did not see any changes to the murals on the wall by the river but the artist doing the male face in the alley was busy.

As was the artist on the alley wall of eMbers.

Early in the morning on Thursday one could see that the flowers on the Gutwein Seed building were purple coneflowers.

By the evening a lot of the flowers had been filled in. This mural will probably be the most visible of the various murals being done.

Below the artist is adding detail. The purple for the petals is being apply with a paint gun, not spray cans.

Late in the day the word "Rensselaer" began to appear on the Rensselaer Republican building. I am awed by the Cameron's ability to draw the letters freehand.

The mural project has a shoestring budget and there is now an appeal to the public to raise some additional dollars so the project can do more. You can find the appeal with a way to donate here. If you like what these artists are doing for Rensselaer, if you think that this project is a significant improvement to our community, give some money and we will get more fantastic murals.

In addition to the professional muralists, some local citizens have added touches to the alley. This picture invites two people to stand on either side of the plus sign.

There are now monsters in the alley.

One of the monsters is on a manhole cover.

A local art teacher did this tree.

The sketch below looks like a space boy hold a balloon.

At the last Commissioners meeting the director of JCEDO said he might have some good news to share in the upcoming weeks. This week one bit of good news was released. A company called Inteplast has purchased the large building just to the east of the Interstate as you pass by the lake with the campground at the US 24 Remington exit. The company plans invest $20 million to add manufacturing capability to the plant and expects to employ between 60 and 70 people when fully operational in 2020.

Murals day three is here.