Albion students give faded canal mural a fresh look
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Albion Middle School students spent several hours during the school day on Tuesday and today giving the canal mural on the back of the fire hall a fresh look. Here they are shown nearing the end of the project at about 1 p.m. today.
The mural is 25 years old and was originally painted by Corinne Toenniessen for her Girl Scout Gold Award in 1998. She received some design help from local artist Terri Wood.
Kamie Feder, an Albion art teacher, had eighth-grade enrichment students work on touching up the mural in the same style the past two days. Feder expects there will be a little more work on Thursday to finish the effort.
“It beautifies the community,” Feder said. “There are tons of foot traffic down here.”
She said several passing boaters waved and beep their horns to encourage the students.
Tra’Monie Walker works the mural. The theme is in the canal’s early days when boats and barges were pulled by mules. The canal was completed in 1825 and will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2025.
Students painted over the mural on Tuesday in the same style as the original, and today added highlights and shadows.
Lillian Fisher works on the mural which is 36 feet long and 12 feet tall. Feder, the art teacher, painted the “Welcome to Albion” message on Sunday. Students weren’t able to paint the letters due to liability concerns about the height. They were able to paint most of the mural by standing, with some help in spots from stools and a lift.
Here is how the mural looked before the recent upgrade.
Here is how it looked this afternoon.
