A mural Port can call its own

When the red curtain hung on the north side of the Twisted Willow restaurant building in downtown Port Washington opened last Thursday, the crowd gathered paused and then broke into applause.

It was the unveiling of a multi-colored mural created with tiles painted by people from Port Washington and beyond — including many who were in the crowd.

“It was so cool,” Karen Krainz said. “It’s just so exciting to see all the different artwork and how it came together. I think it’s just beautiful.

“I think it just adds to our community and the beauty of it.”

Krainz and a group of her friends and family painted a number of the tiles that make up the mosaic.

“This is right up our alley,” Krainz said. “I love to have a reason to get together.”

She painted two tiles, an abstract green tile that’s on the mural’s lower left side and a blue and white one depicting a tree that is her interpretation of a photo she took at Coal Dock Park. That tile is in the middle right side of the mural.

Once it was announced that the Midwest mural would be installed in Port, it was a given that she and her friends would be at the unveiling, Krainz said.

“I’m so excited it ended up being installed in Port,” she said.

Also present Thursday were 45 eighth-graders from Thomas Jefferson Middle School and Sherri Kultgen, their art teacher. The students each created tiles during class, a project supported by the Friends of Port Washington Parks and Recreation.

“It was a really positive experience to have their legacy left on the wall,” she said. “They were excited to see it as part of the whole — that was very special to them. It was so heartfelt to see them pointing out their tiles.

“I don’t think they could have had a better day.”

The students’ tiles ranged from a watermelon to hot air balloons to landscape scenes — even the Kansas City Chief’s logo painted by a student who’s an avid fan, Kultgen said.

“That was the first tile I recognized on the mural,” she said.

While the students didn’t bring their original tiles to the unveiling, several said they brought their parents downtown to see the mural over the weekend. They posed for photos holding their tiles and pointing them out on the mural.

Kultgen said her interest in the mural went beyond the students. Her 6-year-old granddaughter also painted one of the tiles.

“There are artists who did these tiles too. It’s wonderful to see the range of people and talent on the mural,” she said.

Kristina Tadeo, executive director of Port Main Street, said the crowd and its reaction were a big part of the mural project.

“A lot of people who were there were part of the project,” she said, including some who came from out of state to see the mural unveiled.

Also there were Lewis and Paul Lavoie of Mural Mosaic, which coordinated the mural project, who Tadeo said were enamored with the city.

Port Main Street sold 150 of the tile kits, Tadeo said, noting more than 1,800 tiles make up the mural.

It wasn’t just the mural that was unveiled Thursday. Port Main Street and the City of Port also announced Paint on Port, a program intended to bring three to four murals to locations throughout the city during each of the next three years.

Artists must submit their designs for the murals by May 21, and a committee will then select those that will be done this year. The first murals will be painted in Port from Aug. 25 to Sept. 1.