Calumet County Mural Initiative
With what started as an idea from the artist, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design professor, and Chilton native, James Barany the Calumet County Mural Initiative was set into motion. James created the composite image (top image) on photoshop along with multiple others and allowed for the community to vote on their favorite. The chosen image (top image) was selected as the final design.
From left to right there are many iconic figures that played crucial roles in the Chilton history.
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The original homage to the local Menomonie Native Americans and other tribes are created through these 3.
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The original Chilton dam.
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Catherine Stanton, a Native American princess who was westernized and helped Chilton become an inhabitable location by helping create the first wheat mill. She vouched for why Chilton should be the County Seat in comparison to Stockbridge.
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Hotel Chilton.
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Women in traditional dresses using pitch forks to pick up/move hay.
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Boys who just exchanged their cow for their first tractor.
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General Hobart.
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General Breed.
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Row of World War 1 Veterans that all originated from the Chilton area.
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Original mill layout.
The People
The next step was for James to recruit some interns to help him with this massive project! With multiple applicants he chose a wonderful group of individuals, including myself, to accomplish this task.
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Julien Roberts
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Graduate of MIAD​ for Illustration.
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Claresa Waight
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Attends MIAD​ for Graphic Design.
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Reagan Mulvey
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Attends MIAD​ for MSP.
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Olivia Bonlander
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Attends University of Wisconsin-Stout ​for Art Education.
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Emma Barany
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Attends MICA​ for Animation.
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All of the interns arrived at James's studio for one day of training in order to create a cohesive style of work. James focused on adapting our individual qualities into a larger team that can be viewed collectively. James gave us a 4x4 area of the original mural design and told us to paint. We all started with the underpainting and then continued with the details. Each intern offered many different qualities within their paintings. One comment that I feel really emphasized the differences was when James went down the line and stated the strengths of each work. The comment made towards my piece was, 'you gravitate towards color'. It was really interesting to see how this exercise really affected how each interns sees their work as well as the work of their peers.
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The Wall
The massive building that this artwork is on is currently known as the bar 40 West. The wall stretches about 60 ft long and is about 35 feet tall. This was by far my largest project as an artist. The first few steps consisted of mortar, mending, and more mortar! Bricks were nearly falling from the top because of the general wear and tear the building has faced throughout the years.
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Then a wall conditioner (White layer) was added in order to prevent the brick from absorbing much of the expensive mural paint we used.
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Then there was a grey primer with a lighter grey grid that was added in order to properly locate the portions of the mural that we are working on.
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Last but not least there is an underpainting layer made using 6-7 premixed colors with a final layer of more vibrant colors on top.
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A spray sealant was used at the end to protect the work.
James Barany stands by all of his murals for at least 30 years if not more.
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