The effort by a local Rotary club and George Fox University to site colorful murals throughout the town is continuing.
The latest project is underway on the west-facing corner of Ixtapa Restaurant on First and Blaine streets and is titled “Flowing Connection.” A cadre of GFU students began the project in late April after local contractor JK Paint prepared and primed the wall for paint, creating a clean white canvas for the 60-foot-by-15-foot art piece.
The project is the sixth mural to be erected within the confines of the city, the first more than a decade ago when Climax Portable Machining and Welding Systems hired several GFU art students “who helped us design and create the panels which are now installed on the side of the Climax building facing Highway 219,” said Geoff Gilmore, former Climax CEO and a member of the Noon Rotary Club. “From this initial ‘prototype’ came the idea of having Rotary and GFU partner on a series of city community murals."
For the Ixtapa mural, six GFU interns were hired to create and paint the piece, with other students lending a hand. The interns are part of GFU’s Arts Administration Practicum and are receiving college credit as well, Gilmore said. Painters on the project include Isabella Marsh, Sandra Montes, Jadyn Robles, Bethany Cook, Whittie Davis and Maddy Smith, with Kylynn Cansler, Levi Gallagher and Alissa Hrushka helping design the mural and facilitate its installation.
Gilmore said Rotary generally targets creating one mural per year, “but one year we had to pass due to COVID and another year GFU did not have enough students interested in signing up for the class.”
The other murals are sited at three local businesses and one public building: “Community With One Another” at Steve’s Auto Service on Hancock and Meridian streets; “The Art of Newberg” on the Newberg Public Library annex on North Howard Street; “The Community and Diversity of the City of Newberg” at Mini Market El Tala on First and River streets and “Community, Music, History and Environmental Stewardship” at Lewis Audia Video on Portland Road.
Funding for the projects comes primarily from the Rotary club, although “several local businesses help out by donating all or discounting their services (wall prep, pressure washing, etc.) and products (paint, scaffolding, etc.),” Gilmore said, adding that in the instance of the Ixtapa mural JK Paint provided the prep, Ace Hardware the paint and painting supplies, Reid Rental the scaffolding and Sherwin Williams more paint.
Speaking of paint, Gilmore said the most important aspect of creating a mural that will ensure is wall preparation and finish coats of paint.
“We are using exterior grade paints …,” he said. “We will be putting a durable protective coating over the finished mural to be able to help it stand up against moisture and UV fading.”
All past murals have been treated to withstand northwest Oregon weather and, so far, have held up well. “I have not noticed any weather degradation,” Gilmore said.
What, ultimately, is the goal of the mural project?
“Our murals are designed to provide the Newberg community with a vision of what type of community we want to become and are loosely based on Rotary’s values,” Gilmore said. “By seeing the vision of what we want to be, it should help us to act in ways to bring it into full being.”
Get out there and get a photo
Gilmore said the Rotary club is issuing a challenge to the citizenry to travel to Ixtapa to take selfie photos on the far right side of the mural where there is a grape arch design, then submit them via social media at #newbergmurals. The selfies will then be entered into a contest, with the winners being recognized in GFU’s magazine and in a Rotary publication.
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