EXCHANGE: Art teacher looks to create community mural

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) - Tina Wagner is back with her brush to make Nunda Township a more colorful place.

Wagner, a McHenry teacher and the creative force behind two previous community murals in Nunda Township, is looking for artists to help her paint the Nunda Township Road District barn located less than a mile away from her original mural on “Graffiti Bridge” near the intersection of Bay, Pleasant Hill and Terra Cotta roads.

The barn mural will be the largest project Wagner has attempted, hoping to cover an area 12 feet tall and 30 feet wide. Like her past projects, Wagner is calling on residents to submit ideas to bring the art piece to life. She could choose multiple submissions and blend them into one piece or one submission that would cover the entire area.

Submissions can be emailed to artwork.1@hotmail.com or dropped off at the township office at 3518 Bay Road in Crystal Lake by April 4.

“It’s something that’s timeless,” Wagner said of creating community murals. “That’s the reward. You’re able to contribute to something you can always look back at and admire.”

The Valley View Elementary art teacher was inspired to continue doing community murals after seeing so many people come together to help turn “Graffiti Bridge” into a beautiful piece of art back in 1998.

The bridge, which now features a painting of a train going through a stone tunnel, was plagued by consistent graffiti until Wagner’s project.

She found support from township officials, railroad officials and Prairie Grove village officials, as well as numerous community organizations, to make the artwork a reality.

Wagner followed that project up in the early 2000s with a mural of the Archway Bridge - which spanned the Fox River at Route 176 from 1912 to 1954 - at the township assessor’s office.

While Wagner initially hoped to rehabilitate the Graffiti Bridge artwork, construction on the structure made it impossible. She said she was more than happy to take on the larger barn project and believes more people than any of the previous projects will have a chance to get involved.

“I don’t want close the door to anyone’s ideas because I think this project is a more unique situation where a lot of ideas can be used,” Wagner said. “It’s a team that has to come together and make this happen. As a teacher, I like that. It’s a rewarding experience.”

Wagner said the current plan is to paint whichever designs are chosen during the first week of June. She said she is looking for people of all ages to help paint.

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Source: The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald, https://bit.ly/1Gf1LNm

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Information from: The Northwest Herald, https://www.nwherald.com