A project is born when an idea is examined by a group of people – it is discussed, dissected, deliberated – if the idea brought forth needs to become reality. This process can sometimes take minutes, days, weeks, months or even years depending on the complexity of the idea. Antwerp Chamber found itself with ideas in which to bring beautification to Antwerp’s downtown district. With the business growth and renovations that have taken place in the past 5 years on South Main St., the Chamber felt strongly that they wanted to contribute to all the hard work and dedication that Antwerp Chamber businesses were doing for the Village of Antwerp. The group broke down into a smaller committee of a few Chamber board members and business owners who began to meet regularly for this planning process. This started at its infant stage in early 2022 with informal discussions about other towns’ use of business buildings to procure works of art in Murals for residents and guests of the towns. Photos from social media were shared of other towns’ murals and the idea was mulled over for the summer as the Chamber planned and executed Day in the Park in August 2022. At the Chamber’s inaugural event – Munch & Meet in September 2022 (this coincided with the regular Chamber monthly meeting), one of the Antwerp Chamber board members made a formal motion to explore commissioning a Mural for a downtown business wall. Then the real research began.
Fundraising for the Mural began with the fall of 2022’s Wine Bus Tour, followed by an email campaign to Antwerp Chamber businesses. With pledges from local organizations, as well as the No Compromise: History of the Reservoir War Dinner Theater that was held in April 2023 (and that Wine Bus Tour in 2022), Chamber had raised approximately $8,500 for a mural.
During these fundraising months, the Mural committee was researching artists with an established portfolio of mural art of this magnitude. The committee inquired from other villages and towns who have undertaken this type of project to review their procedures for choosing an artist. A compiled list of area artists who specialize in Mural art was assembled, calls were made and emails were sent to see who would be available, interested and willing to discuss this project further with the Chamber committee. Narrowing that list down, the committee chose Tim Parsley for the Mural Wall project. Parsley is the Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing Chair in the Department of Art, School of Creative Arts at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the past Parsley was a Project Manager and lead Mural Artists at ArtWorks in Cincinnati, as well as Drawing Directer at Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center in Cincinnati. Chamber Mural committee interviewed and met with Parsley, giving him the history of Antwerp including items that makes Antwerp unique to be included in the Mural design. His dates of availability and his past experience bolstered the committee’s confidence that they have made the right choice in choosing Parsley for this project. At the request of Parsley, the committee began putting together design ideas they had collected from village residents, Chamber board members and businesses, and local historians who expressed interest in seeing a mural on a downtown building.
The committee also pounded the pavement of downtown Antwerp to determine which buildings would be good choices for the mural. The committee carefully examined which building would work best for this first Mural for the village of Antwerp. With that, they approached Ray Friend of Friend’s Flooring about putting a Mural on his south facing exterior wall. Ray gave his blessing and go ahead with this project and the building was photographed and sent to Parsley for his review and initial consideration. He made recommendations to improvements that will be necessary on the wall prior to him beginning his application. Morrow Painting has agreed to complete the prep work needed to the building to ensure that the artwork will last for many years. The prep work should be starting at any time. The Antwerp Chamber Mural committee will be signing the contract with Tim Parsley for his Mural commission soon and he is scheduled to begin painting before the end of the summer 2023.
Keep up to date with Antwerp Chamber of Commerce activities by following their Facebook page and going to their website, www.antwerpchamber.com
