After two and a half years of intense planning, a significant step toward the revitalization of downtown and beyond will take place within just a couple of weeks when the Murals in Menomonie festival gets underway.
On June 24, more than 200 members of The Walldogs, a professional international group of muralists, artists and sign painters will travel from 30 states and four different countries to fulfill their mission of “painting history, one small town at a time.”
They’ll be reuniting with fellow Walldog veteran Wade Lambrigstsen, owner of Vintage Sign Shop in Menomonie, as well as meeting more than 100 local volunteers recruited to make the five-day event one to remember.
What’s a Walldog?
Advertising billboard artists known as “walldogs” used to travel the country plying their trade. Vestiges of their work, referred to as ghost murals, can often still be seen on historic buildings throughout the country, including several in downtown Menomonie.
Nancy Bennett was long fascinated by the stories of walldogs. When a friend suggested in 1993 that an ugly wall in their hometown of Allerton, Iowa needed a mural painted on it, Bennett contacted fellow sign painters and modern-day wall dogs to help with the project. Seeing a way to improve the town’s image, the booster club proposed six more buildings in need of beautification.
The event attracted artists and muralists from around the region, even as far as Canada. And the community responded as they came together to feed, house, witness and celebrate the artists and muralists who donated their time and talents to beautify their village over the course of several days.
Word spread quickly about the success of the inaugural festival – and with Bennett as their “Queen,” The Walldogs was officially organized. Nearly every year since, Walldogs’ festivals happen all over the United States. While most take place in small Midwestern towns, some as far flung as both coasts and even a couple in Canada and Australia. Nearby examples of Walldogs’ work can be found in Chippewa Falls which hosted events in 2002 and 2006.
Lambrigtsen’s first Wall Dog adventure took him to Arcola, Ill. “I’ve made all these new friends,” he said. “The coolest things about this whole thing are the relationships, the community building and getting to know local people and having a shared goal of telling the history of the city through public art.”
He estimates he’s taken part in at least a dozen events, many of them with his wife Rita and his kids, Aaron and Mia in tow, all of them wielding paintbrushes: “My kids grew up with this, too. They were around 5-, 6-, 7-years old, painting Walldog events, when we first started going across the country. We’ve been to New Hampshire, Florida, Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin.”
What happens when The Walldogs come to town?
Once an application to become a Certified Walldog Community is accepted, the number and location of murals to be painted is determined by the municipality hosting the event. Historical background materials – photos, articles, etc. – are provided to a designer to create their vision and, in most cases, act as team leader for each mural project.
Meanwhile the owner(s) of the walls that will serve as the artists’ palettes prepare the surface: cleaning, painting and tuck-pointing brick as needed.
The project leaders arrive the first evening for “Lights Out” Projection Night when they project or transfer a simplified version of their design on its designated wall and use markers to outline the image. (Kind of like a paint-by-number canvas).
Scaffolding, scissor lifts, ladders and overturned buckets are set up to provide bases for the artists to stand on as they paint. Tables to hold lettering enamels, rags, rollers, brushes and containers for water are set up.
The following morning, everything is ready for the project leaders – joined by their teams of registered professional artists and approved amateur volunteers – arrive at their designated locations to begin “killing the white,” the term Walldogs use for painting a stunning new image on the prepared surface.
In addition to 11 walls in and around downtown, visitors can watch the artists at work in Wilson Park, which will serve as the centerpiece for the Murals in Menomonie festival featuring music, family activities and food trucks as well as Saturday’s Farmers Market. On giant easels holding four large panels will emerge scenes destined to be mounted in Ridgeland, Boyceville, the Rassbach Museum in Wakanda Park, and on the Adoray building downtown.
 |
| Coca Cola image: Top: If you’re traveling north on Broadway through downtown Menomonie, this is a ghost image of a Coca-Cola ad that can just barely be discerned on the second story wall above the Stacked Eatery building on Broadway. Bottom: This is how it will appear after it’s restored by “Queen Walldog” Nancy Bennett. |
Stories about the individual project leaders/designers and the locations of the remaining 11 walls around town will be featured in Part 2 in the June 17 issue of Menomonie News Net.
Barbara Lyon is a freelance writer and retired editor of The Dunn County News
Murals in Menomonie Event Schedule – Plan Your Visit
View an interactive map of the mural locations/names
Find more at muralsinmenomonie.com and on Facebook
