The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Council approves village mural
ByEd Patino, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: June 21, 2007
Visitors to the Riverfolk Festival this year will notice that one of the downtown buildings will have a brand new facelift.
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The Manchester Village Council approved the painting of a mural in the Manchester business district, scheduled to start within the upcoming weeks, during its meeting Monday evening.
The approval was the final step in setting the project in motion. The painting of the mural on the east wall of the old Black Sheep Tavern building was first approved by building owner Tom Ellis, then approved by Richard C. Spring, the president of the Riverfolk Music and Arts Organization.
Mary Thiefels of the Ann Arbor-based Tree Town Murals is the artist-in-residence that will head the project and do the painting.
"My idea for the mural is to show the love of the village and the togetherness of the Manchester community," Thiefels said. "With the preservation of downtown, the mural can serve as a visual landmark."
Thiefels hopes to get started as soon as possible. Her goal is to have the mural finished by the Riverfolk Festival, which takes place August 3. She estimates that the mural will take four weeks to complete.
A sketch of Thiefel's design was displayed at the village council meeting. The mural portrays aspects of life in downtown Manchester and the surrounding rural areas. It emphasizes the many festivals held in the community, such as the canoe race, Manchester Fair, Chicken Broil and Memorial Day parade. It also highlights the area's recreational use and history of the village.
"This mural will enhance the recent triumphs to the downtown area while reflecting the nature of the city as a whole," Thiefels said.
The mural will cover the majority of the wall at the building, located at 115 Main Street. While Thiefels designed the mural to cover the entire wall originally, she is planning that it will cover about 25 feet.
Exterior latex paint will be used on the mural. The wall used to be the interior of a drive through for a bank. Through the years, only the bottom four feet of the drylock surface has experienced any damage.
According to Thiefels, the wall can be smoothed over and won't have much effect on the mural.
Using exterior latex paint, the mural will be well managed against graffiti. However, Thiefels said she doesn't see graffiti or desecration of the mural being a problem in Manchester.
"I haven't seen any graffiti in Manchester," Thiefels said. "Generally when people are proud of something, they respect it."
While she is the main cog of the project, Thiefels doesn't want to be the only one working on it. She is encouraging suggestions from residents and plans to get the community involved.
"Having feedback from the community is a positive thing," Thiefels said. "I want to bring the high school students over to help, and people from the community will be involved in the painting of it."
The project is not expected to impact the local businesses during its completion.
"Manchester understands what it means to 'take care of their own,' and the mural will feature this neighborly spirit," she said.
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