LAPORTE — It’s not just another brick wall, but one described now as uplifting and having character.
A mural on the side of the historic LaPorte County Public Library Exchange building was the focus of a celebration Friday in the outdoor wi-fi garden at the main library branch across the street.
“How can you not drive by or walk by and just smile?” said LaPorte City Councilwoman Julie West.
“The beauty of this you can see blocks away,” said former mayor Mark Krentz, who used to be in the business of buying and selling art.
Krentz said he was impressed with the mural’s bright colors and the seemingly 3-D dimensions that make it appear as if “you can just walk into it.”
The library, working with the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City and Health Foundation of LaPorte, ordered the futuristic looking mural as a way of reflecting the modern things now happening inside a building once firmly anchored in the past.
For decades, the over century-old building, often referred to as the “The Telephone Co.,” housed switchboard operators, manually connected people with each other on telephone calls until dial up phones forced the company out of business.
The building was purchased and renovated by the library, which opened it in 2020. There’s now modern technology inside including 3-D printers, laser cutters and studios for use by the public for recording podcasts and videos.
LaPorte County Public Library Board President Dara Jeffries said she thinks of the mural as a source of happiness and something to go see when her spirit needs a lift when the sun doesn’t shine for long periods, or it becomes dreary like in February.
“Free therapy,” she called the mural.
The mural, in a highly traveled area on Indiana Avenue just south of Lincolnway, also helps residents give visitors an even better impression of the city from seeing it.
“We’re bringing beauty, color, joy and happiness to our downtown,” said Mayor Tom Dermody.
The mural was created by Alex Allen, a professional artist from South Bend.
The 30-year-old seemed overjoyed by the positive reaction to her artwork, for which she used strictly cans of spray paint and frog tape to create the straight lines contained in her abstract image.
Allen, who has made about 180 murals in her career, called the celebration “a huge honor.”
“It makes me feel happy and very welcomed here,” she said.
The public response to her work included an offer to create another mural downtown at Mucho Mas, a California-style Mexican restaurant in the 600 block of Lincolnway.
Allen said she began working last week on the tropical-themed mural, containing lots of bright colors and images of plants, flowers and butterflies to reflect the type of food prepared there for customers.
She expects to be finished by the end of next week on what will be the third mural in LaPorte.
In 2019, the first one, depicting life in LaPorte and images of impactful residents since the city’s early beginnings, went up beside at Plaza 618, an outdoor gathering place also in the downtown.
Dermody said other murals are planned as a way of adding more character to downtown and quality of life in the city.
“It’s just very cool for people to enjoy, to see when they’re walking with their families,” he said.
West said she also hopes LaPorte becomes a stop for people who travel to see murals.
“I’m thrilled that we’re moving forward with more murals because I think it just beautifies our city even more,” she said.
© Copyright 2024, nwitimes.com, Munster, IN