Color and mirth have found their way back to Munster’s northwest side with the completion of a mural capturing the town’s roots with a child-like wonder.
Sponsored by the Munster Police Department’s Choice Community Council, the mural at Ridge Road and Meadow Lane took a little longer than two months and a lot of people coming out to wield a paintbrush, its project manager and Choice Council member Connie Karras said. The mural, dominated by bright colors, depicts the school town, the bike path, the gazebo, the police and fire departments as well as Public Works and Town Hall, among other elements, and blends in with a new art space that opened Saturday.
It’s the first of its kind for the town, Karras said, and she couldn’t be happier with the energy it brought to the area.
“This is the part of Munster that really needs improvement. It’s the town’s first downtown,” a jubilant Karras said of the area. “We’re already scouting the next wall.”
Choice Community Member and Munster Police Officer James Ghrist suggested the wall, which he thought had the perfect size and shape, Karras said. Fortunately for the council, the building’s owners, Terry and Patti Gibb, are Karras’s neighbors, and they were an easy sell for the project.
“My husband’s dad built this building,” Patti Gibb said. “I did come out and paint a little bit, but I was shocked to see how many people came out to paint. It’s beautiful,” Patti Gibb said. “If someone wasn’t from here, you’d think (this area) was the town’s downtown.”
The council then enlisted the help of local artist Carleen O’Connor-Rivera, who designed the mural as a look at the town through a child’s eyes, said artist Joe Satkus, a member of artist collective The Art Table who, with fellow artist Lauren Thiel, came into to put the finishing touches on it the last two weeks. For those two weeks, he was out there every morning “crisping up” the lines and focusing on the First Responder vehicles.
“This was my first time working with a mural, and I think it really captured the essence of the town,” Satkus said. “It’s my favorite thing: I got to do something for the community, and we represented it in the best light.”
Town Councilman Joe Hofferth, R-2, said he watched the project come together as he headed to work. The painters’ dedication blew him away.
“I think it’s fantastic. To have this many people work on a project makes me smile, and who doesn’t want to smile?” he said. “I’m proud of the people who came together and got involved.”
The project was so well-received, the town is now developing a process so that other groups may design and paint murals of their own, Ghrist said.
“This won’t be the last (mural),” Karras said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
