The Waterloo Center for the Arts has been working with U of I MFA students in the College of Art & Art History to design and install the public art murals meant to reflect the values, stories and identity of Waterloo. U of I lecturer and 3D design artist Hannah Givler leads the course in pubic art.
Tyler’s designs were selected for the project and work began July 6. Murals should be completed by Tuesday.
Tyler chose a vibrant palette of blue, orange, yellow and purple to represent the downtown’s sense of energy and renewal. Her whimsical motifs incorporate goldenrod, butterfly milkweed and groundnut vines from Iowa’s prairie.
“I love working with botanicals, flowers, even my houseplants, because the form feels so natural to me. I’m from Oklahoma and when I moved to Iowa, my first apartment was near a bike trail and I saw tons of goldenrod and other wildflowers. It referenced the prairie, which again, is natural to me, and I wanted to pull from those things,” the artist explained.
The mural at 329 W. Sixth St. is nearly finished except for a preserving topcoat of clear varnish. It represents sunset, while the scene at 325 W. Fifth St. represents dawn and daytime and is still a work in progress. “It’s about two-thirds done, about to the point where I can come down in the evening and superimpose my design onto the wall with a projector and sketch it out. These are my first murals of this size, and it’s a cool challenge. It’s nice to stretch a different muscle.”
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