Installed in Wittenberg

Artists brighten downtown window with mural

La Crosse Tribune
By GERI PARLIN gparlin@lacrossetribune.com

Local artists Matt Duckett and Jennifer Bushman recently finished an eye-popping mural, which will be displayed in Wittenberg, Wis., as part of Walls of Wittenberg, a program started in 2005 to revitalize the village through development of the arts. In four years, the central Wisconsin village has commissioned and installed 15 murals and opened an art gallery.

This mission struck a chord with the La Crosse artists, who run the Green Bay Street Studio. So Duckett and Bushman created a design that incorporated the nature of the building on which their mural would hang - an eye clinic. Duckett and Bushman's final design mimics the appearance of color-blindness tests and measures an imposing 8 feet by 30 feet. It is made up of more than 2,600 circles in 65 colors.

The artwork is painted on Dibond, an aluminum composite that is two thin sheets of aluminum sandwiching a layer of resin and is most often used in signmaking. Duckett and Bushman created 18 sizes of stencils to create the circles. Then they varnished the completed mural to weatherproof it.

The mural will be installed in Wittenberg late this week but until then is on display in the newly renovated building at 333 Main St. in downtown La Crosse. Duckett said this is a taste of what is about to happen in La Crosse. As a member of the City Arts Board, Duckett is working on a program to install artwork in vacant storefronts in La Crosse.

Finished and Temporarily Insatlled at 4th & Main

Almost There

Pressing Forward

Beginning the Mural

Doug's Mural

Doug (City Forge Blacksmith) needed his garage wall painted, and who better to take care of this for him...GBSS. With some beers in hand and 15 cans of spray paint we went to town on his wall. What a great time trying spray painting! We'll have to do it again real soon.

Walls of Wittenberg

We are currently working with Walls of Wittenberg on potentially painting a mural on the side of Dr. Raymond Goga's Eye Clinic. Walls of Wittenberg is a group of art interested residents who came together and created Walls of Wittenberg, whose mission is to bring out the beauty and unique character of the Wittenberg area in a way that revitalizes the downtown, honors the history of the area, and attracts visitors by having artists paint amazing murals on the historical buildings. Click here to learn more.

So far we have designed two mock ups for the committee to review and potentially select for the building.