Muralfest came full circle this weekend as multi-colored tribute to wheat took shape on the Bohn-Woods building, courtesy of the volunteer artists at Northwest Muralfest.
An estimated 20 or so volunteers painted onto the primed bricks, just a few feet from Northwest Muralfest’s first creation — a tribute to cherries painted in 2020.
The new mural replaces an older wheat-themed mural, which was removed from the wall of Zim’s Sports Bar and Grill after deteriorating too much to be salvageable. Zim’s now bears an informative mural on How The Dalles Got Its Name.
But need was felt for a new wheat-themed mural, said event coordinator Pete McKearan.
Mihaela Bobirnac mixes paint for the golden corner of an image-within-image.
Flora Gibson photo
“It seemed the perfect thing to put next to the cherry mural,” said Carolyn Wood, who served on the Muralfest committee and is part-owner of the transformed wall.
The Dalles Mural Committee picked the subject, and the wall, and selected Justine Riede and Denae Manion to design “Where Wheat is King.” Historians on the committee provided reference material.
Riede, who hails from Portland, specializes in hand-painted signs and lettering. Manion added the scenery — mostly wheat fields. “She’s really good at the great landscapes,” Riede noted.
Last year Riede came to The Dalles Muralfest for the first time, after participating in a similar event in California in 2006. Riede enjoys the community-building fun of Muralfest, he said.
He was joined that year by Walldogs volunteers from across the U.S and from as afar afield as Amsterdam, Scotland, and England. This year, Muralfest continued the Walldogs’ historical tradition, with a theme from the 1970s.
Event coordinator Pete McKearnan adds a pounce pattern to the wall.
Flora Gibson photo
“Basically, we’re sort of putting a lot of the town’s history on its walls,” McKearnan noted. “In this case we’re just sort of continuing... the community was already started.” Run by volunteers, Muralfest events are funded through The Dalles Main Street program, as well as by donations, he said.
This year, just one mural was added to the 17 already painted by the Walldogs (one in 2020, one in 2021 and 15 in 2022). The painters set up scaffolding early Thursday morning, and estimated a finish on Sunday, with the help of 20 or more volunteers from around the area, who come to The Dalles mainly from Corvallis, Bend, and Portland. Local artists can show up and participate without registering, Riede said.
Stretching roughly 15 feet high and 50 feet down the wall, the new mural is made to last. “The paint we use is probably, depending on the sun exposure, is still gonna look good in 10 years,” Riede said. “After that it may start to fade a little.”
"Where Wheat is King" takes shape on the wall on Oct. 6, 2023.
Flora Gibson photo
But fading might just improve the mural’s effect, Manion noted. With its historical references, it already has a dated look. “Even if it loses color, just adding to the vintage quality of it,” she said.
Both artists expressed appreciation for Muralfest’s place in The Dalles. “Besides helping people learn about the history of there town, it’s a kind of community-building event,” Riede noted.
People “just need art,” Manion added. “People always say there needs to be more to do in The Dalles. This is definitely starting new avenues of creativity.”
Riede agrees. “But I’m really here for the party,” he grinned, three days of painting with new friends from as far away as Corvallis, Madras and Bend.
“It’s building a lineage of murals,” Manion said. “It’s fun that our town embraced this, and we got enough money to do it.”
David Kinker, of Bend, Ore., paints in an antique vehicle.
Flora Gibson photo
“We haven’t decided if we’re doing anything next year, but it’d be nice to,” McKearnan admitted. “We might have one or two more in us.”
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