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EAST GRAND FORKS – Two artists from Crookston are expected to begin work Monday morning, June 17 – weather permitting – on a mural on the exterior wall of the Riverwalk Centre at DeMers Avenue and Second Avenue Northwest.
Ross Hier and Trey Everett were selected, from eight applicants around the country, by a six-member Downtown Development Association committee to paint the mural, which they anticipate will take about a week to complete, depending on weather.
The 10-foot by 10-foot mural, which will feature images of fish common to the Red River of the North, has not been given a name by the artists, Everett said, but “will be a ‘Greetings from East Grand Forks’ kind of mural.”
Everett and Hier expect to work on the mural from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday, June 21, depending on the weather conditions, he said. Work could continue into the following week, if necessary.
Hier, a biologist and artist, will be painting the more detailed fish images, said Everett, who will focus on the remainder of the design.
The artists will probably use “a grid method, and may also use a projector for part of it,” to transfer the design elements to the large scale, Everett said. “That’s to be determined.”
They plan to use a high-quality latex exterior paint, he said. When the mural is completed, they will add a clear, polyurethane coat, which will protect the artwork from ultraviolet rays and deterioration, and keep the colors from fading, Everett said. “It should stay vibrant for a long time.”
He added: “It’s a neat collaboration. This is my first time working with another person” on a mural.
He and Hier have been friends for many years, but have not worked together.
“It’s a fun, combined effort,” Everett said.
Funded by the Iseminger Family Endowment for the Arts, which is administered through the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region, the mural is meant to showcase the connection between East Grand Forks and the river, and “must include imagery that weaves in fish that inhabit the river,” according to the request for proposal document.
About $4,500 was budgeted for the project, part of a joint downtown beautification effort by several partners including the Riverwalk Centre and the city of East Grand Forks.
Everett has created a number of indoor and outdoor projects in northwest Minnesota, mostly in Crookston, and plans to complete two in Ohio and one in Minneapolis this summer, he said.
The committee that selected Everett and Hier to carry out the project included Penny Stai, property owner; representation from the city of East Grand Forks and the DDA; and a participant from the DDA’s Pillars of Place conference last year, said Jill Proctor, DDA president and CEO.
An image of the proposed mural is not yet available, Proctor said, noting that the DDA prefers to have a “grand reveal” once the mural is complete. A date for that event has not yet been set.
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