From Murals to Rooftops: Exploring Jefferson's Public Art Scene | Episode 5 with Deb McGinn

In Episode 5 of Behind What Matters, Matt Wetrich sits down with Deb McGinn, Chair of the Tower View Team and Secretary of Jefferson Matters, to explore the public art projects that have helped shape Jefferson's identity.

Ring Out for Art sculptures and painted pianos to Porch Fest, murals, and the new rooftop art installation, Deb shares the stories behind the projects that have added color, creativity, and community pride throughout town. Learn how these ideas got started, the volunteers and partners who helped bring them to life, and what's next for Jefferson's growing public art scene.

This episode talks about how art can transform a community, along with offering a behind-the-scenes look at the people and projects helping make Jefferson a destination worth exploring.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Deb again, why does Jefferson matter to you?

SPEAKER_01 0:06

That's a long question that I could answer for days. But um I think Jefferson matters to me because i it's my home. I've lived here for 48 years before that, as a married woman, but before that, um my parents came here in 1964 and started fifth grade in Jefferson, went through all my school days here, then went off to college, was gone for like nine years, and um then suddenly found myself back here. So I think it means home.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Welcome back to episode five of Behind What Matters. I'm Matt Weitrich, Executive Director of Jefferson Matters of Main Street, and today we have Deb McGinn here with us, and we are talking about one of the things that has recently put Jefferson on the map. Previous episodes we talked about something literally on the map, which is the Mahaney Bell Tower. But in recent years, it's been uh a culture that we've created here of creativity, collaboration, uh, and nothing has exemplified that more than our public art. And really behind a lot of that has been Deb Megan and the Jefferson Matters Tower Review team. So thank you for joining us today, Deb. We're gonna we're gonna dive into this and like kind of how this has all gotten started, what it's meant to the community and your role and all that good stuff. So um, you know, we're gonna be talking about uh uh painted pianos to Porch Fest, uh Ring Out for Art, uh breathing life into alleys, uh literally bringing uh flat wall to life, uh rooftop art, of course, things like that. So this creativity, this this culture we've created here in Jefferson is has really uh drawn the attention of not just local artists but regionally and across the country. So thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Well thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Uh you are the chair of Tower View team and the secretary for the Jefferson Matters uh board.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

And you've been involved in so many of these projects. Um so how long have you been involved with uh Jefferson Matters?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

I think it's going on 14 years now. And I retired from school and um decided I didn't really want to live in Jefferson anymore because of the way it looked, to be quite honest. There was not much to do. And about that same time when I was retiring, Main Street started to come to town, and they were having the entry meetings and all of that, and so I thought, oh, this would be really kind of a cool thing to get involved with. And so I did. And one day at one of their meetings, they had this big blue wall where you put up ideas, and the question was, what do you think would bring people off of Highway 30 down into your community? What do you have here? And my husband nudged me and said, Go tell them about that rooftop art. And so I thought, well, okay. And so I put that on there, and everybody was like, What is that? And so I proceeded to tell them that when we first moved to town, Mark had never been to the tower, and so he wanted to go, so I said, Let's go, but there's really nothing to look at except for the you know, the countryside. And when we got up there, he looked down and he said, What about all these rooftops that are so blank? He said, they need to put something up here like artwork or something. Well that I thought that's a really cool idea, but I didn't pursue it or anything.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

And so Can you tell us approximately what when year-ish-wise? Was that like 2010-ish? What did you say?

SPEAKER_01 4:04

When he told me when it was a long 48 years ago. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And so that kind of just laid there until Main Street came about 2012. And so when I put that up there on that blue wall, everybody said, Oh, that's such a great idea, such a great idea. And but then they looked at me and said, Well, then how are you going to do that? And I thought, what? And so I I learned really quickly that if you make a suggestion, you better follow through with it. And so um I decided to grab some people that I know and have them come to my house. And if you're interested in doing something like this, and that's kind of where Main Street or the Tower View team started, was right there in my living room. And um then Main Street then was accredited and uh they got their start, and then I was asked to join the board. They needed an art team, and so I said, Well, this is great because we need money, and it I could get you're a 501c3, so that means I'm eligible for grants that way. So I said, Yeah, let's do that. And so that's how I got involved with Main Street was through just that one little post on that blue wall.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

So amazing. Yeah, it was amazing. And and it took that interest and community pride for you to even show up to that meeting. Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

I I just knew that Jefferson could be more. Sure. And I'd seen it in its probably its heyday in the 60s, but at the same time, it still didn't look as nice as it does today. People say, Oh, I like the I liked it when it was, you know, old bass, let's do this. You go back and look at those pictures, and it's nothing like it is today. So I don't want to go backwards. I want to keep moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Um tell us a little bit about what Tower View Team focuses on. Like what is the drive of Tower View Team?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Okay. Uh when when the team got together, we didn't have a name or anything, but we decided that since we wanted to do rooftop art, we wanted to see everything from the top of the tower. So Tower View Team came into play in that, in the naming of that. And um we would like to put um artwork in surprising places. Well, what more surprising place than a top of a building? But when we first started, people didn't get that concept at all, the general public. They were like, what are you trying to do? And I said, you know, let's prove that we can do something first. And so we decided to um go into the alley. That's when creative placemaking kind of was on the rise, that uh people hadn't really heard of that. And so we said, let's go into an alley and see if we can't really turn it around with with um creative placemaking, which is just bringing art into an empty space and making it into a third place in your community. And so um we knew Sally White, she had just passed away, and I'd seen all of her bird photos at a presentation. And I said, we really need to honor people like that in our county that are so talented. And so I said we could, you know, put these big humongous photos of hers in the alley and make it a really sweet little space. And so that's what we started to do because I always said, well, we we're gonna have to climb a few walls before we get to the roof. And so to to for people to understand that we're a group that we're really dedicated as to what we want to do. And so that was the first project with Sally's Alley. Then we did a rooftop art project, and so um it's just grown since then. You know, we ever my team is just brilliant with ideas and and drive, and that's what you need, you know, is a lot of volunteers that are gonna help.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

So certainly uh agree with that. And you've done a great job of of welcoming and creating a space where people feel comfortable with trying new things and how uh create uh creating a culture of yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Uh I'm gonna go back one second. You use the term uh third space. And can you can you help folks understand what that that term means?

SPEAKER_01 8:01

A third space really isn't um it isn't a place where you're expected to gather. It's an unexpected gathering place. And an alley is truly an unexpected space. Um when I was a little girl here, I tell the story that my mother always used to say, if I ever find you in that alley, because you know, that's not that's not where girls hang out, was not in an alley space. And so now I'm in alleys all the time. But in in other in other cities, I even go into alleys to see what they're doing in their alleys. But um back then it was a place where it was kind of scary, sketchy people hung out, and so you're gonna turn it around and make it into something that people are unexpectedly surprised by. And so that's what we did. And that's kind of what and with creative placemaking, you're just bringing art into a space that was devoid of art.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

So it's that's that's really good. So let's do one more kind of definition of we've said creative placemaking a couple of times now. Do you want to elaborate on that a little bit? Because that concept is really important, and we um we we've kind of I I guess sort of made a name for ourselves for good creative placemaking.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

We have, and it basically it's just bringing art into surprising places that you don't think about alleyways, um, rooftops, back uh back alleyways with murals, that kind of a thing. And so if you can uh if you think of a place that uh you don't really normally have art in and you put it there, that is called creative place making.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

I I to I guess to add to that, uh when I think of it too, I think it's what resources do you have and when people are in your community or in that space, they know it's like, oh, this is j this is Jefferson's. This is Jefferson, it is this is unique. This isn't just another cut and paste project that you would see in other places. This is a identifiable spot or entity that feels unique to your place. So being creative with your place and making people feel like it's they're there and present there because of what you've done.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

That's right. You can you know you're in Jefferson when you see rooftop art. Yeah. You know you're in Jefferson when you're in Imagination Alley or Arch Alley or Sally's Alley. You know that this is where that happens. So that's what that's it's it's kind of exciting.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

It is, it's very fun, and it's it's a challenge because you want to do these projects uh and we do them a lot with the community. Do you want to talk a little bit about that and the collaborative processes that have happened?

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Um we've gone I learned really early on that people will help support what they help create or what they think they're helping create. And so we've done a lot of things like that. We've the first project was the yarn bombing project that we did. And that was we yarn bombed 20-some trees around the courthouse, and and we did it in a on a Sunday, and people came down on Monday to go to work and they thought, what the heck happened down here? Because all of the trees were explain what yarn bombing is. Yarn bombing is just taking yarn and you either crochet it or knit it or whatever, and then you wrap it around trees or poles or anything that you any structure that you want. And we chose all the trees. But what we what what we did was to bring the community in. And Amy Roberts was brilliant about this. She she would go and get anybody to do this, and so she got clubs, she got even had the Boy Scouts do one tree that year. And it was like, what? How did you do that? And so um, but people wanted to be a part of something at that point in time, and they saw this was fun, this was not hard to do, it was temporary art. And so, as long as it's temporary, I think anybody can stand anything for a while. And so, um, but all the trees that winter were all decorated with with colorful uh yarn, and so that was that was a really fun project. But again, say stating that people want to help you and they want to be a part of making Jefferson better. And so uh I learned that really early on in all of that. The next big huge project that we did with community-based help was Arch Alley with uh David Williamson. He was the artist, and he's a collaborative artist, always has been his whole life. And so he said, I we went to him and we said we want to do an alley project, and we want I don't know what we want to do, we want to have sculpture in there. And so he said, I will not, I will not do that, but we'll do it together. And so that was a whole different shift of your mind that we are going to do this together. And so um we had over 125 people, 150 people involved in designing that. We had um, he went and had did workshops with every fourth grader that year. Um they had their input in that alley space. We wrote a community poem, people came in and helped to do that, and so I think there's just been a lot of community pride because it's okay to help us. You know, we want your help, we want your input, and we want your ideas. So, and I think that's great.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

It it is, and in Arch Alley is a really good example of that collaborative process. It's also a really good example of uh you can interpret a lot of things through art, and it's not there's not a lot of literal things happening there to slap you in the face of oh well this is a a cherry on a spoon or this is a painting of a farm scene or whatever it may be. Um and that's that's kind of what's neat about artists to be able to interpret it your own way and tell your own story. There is story, there are stories to be told about that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

That arch alley has got more stories than probably anything in Jefferson, really, because it is the story of all of us. Um, all of that material that is used in that alley is all recycled, repurposed uh material. Um the big beams that you see in there, though those came from the Home State Bank when they did the remodeling. Uh we have a historic beam from Mirrors Building when they redid the front of that building. Uh we got a beam from them. Um we have um all of the aluminum castings. That aluminum came out of the Raccoon River during one of the river cleanups that David was involved with with the state, and it was leftover aluminum, so we used that. All of the the first arch is all historic um done in our way, uh, but we went to the museum and we all drew parts of historic furniture or horse historic things that were in the museum, and that's the first alley or first arch, I mean, and then the second arch what came out of the school project because David said, What do you like to wear to school? And here came all of these drawings. And what came out was this this little girl had done an arch of shirts, t-shirts. And we thought, well, how fitting is that? And so then how fitting is that, yes. And then um the the little structure below that is little pants. We decided they wear pants to school too. So we put little pants, but and then the third arch represents all the manufacturing that we have here. All of it's round because all of it has something to do with like discs or basketball rims or something like that. So we did those round things, but on those particular um ones in the the the second alley and the third or the third arch would be um these little designs that you see. And those are the designs of the kids, those are their paths to school. David had each one draw their path to school, and then we did that in aluminum on each one of those. And so it was kind of it was there's so much to tell about Arch Alley. So, and then the like the arch in the middle arch, that was a totally new concept. People got together, adults came, they took those pathways to school and made that crazy looking top arch. And it was just they wanted to be involved with doing that. Um, the other two arch tops are reflective of what arches we have downtown around our buildings. Um it's just a lot of storytelling right there.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

And the community poem is is pretty good too.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

It is really neat. And so there's a lot of subtle nods in there and a lot of things to interpret. And not everybody's gonna get all that every time, and that's okay. That's all part of the fun of it. That's all part of it. I mean when you get to have a conversation with folks who can tell you a little more of the story, then it's like, ooh, extra layers deep on that.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

It's very deep in there.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

So clearly that's one of probably one of your favorite projects, would you say one of my favorite because well, number one, I work with my brother. Yeah, I was just gonna say you said David is my brother. You said he's been that way your his whole life. And I was gonna I was gonna let you add to how you might know it's been his whole life.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

And um my whole family is creative, and even down to my kids now, they're they're creative too. But um it's just uh always been a part of my life, you know. And so when David said yes, I was really pleased to get to work with him. Yeah. Mainly because he started his career here in Jefferson with the public library um piece out front. And uh they took a chance on David back in 1973. And uh the Home State Bank um funded that. And so he said, I'm getting to be by that time he was about 74 when we did Arch Alley. And so he said, it's kind of a bookend to my career. So he was excited to to come back and do that for us.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

That's really neat. So probably most folks don't realize the sculpture in front of the library made by the same artist, David. That's right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

He made that in 1973. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

It's fantastic. Um, let's see. Tell us a little about any of the other projects that stand out to you that really have kind of hit your heart or you're most proud of. It's kind of like picking your favorite kid, I understand.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, it's kind of like picking my favorite kid because I really do like all of the alleys because each one is different. This is the other thing. We didn't want any alley to just look like the next alley. And because we we said, we're too creative for that. Let's let's try something different. And so the f I think Sally's alley really holds my heart because of the message that we tried to convey in that space. Sally was such a sweet woman, and she went through a lot of struggle in her later life, and the we the way she got involved in that, uh, taking the pictures of all those birds out of her kitchen window. And Paul White, such a sweet gentleman, and he gave her binoculars or a camera, I think, at first, and said, You need to start looking up a little bit, you know, get her out of her depression. And she said, at the very end, then she said something to the effect, like, I thought I was taking care of these birds, but in all reality, they were taking care of me. I mean, what a story that is, you know. And so I really think that's probably one of my favorite spaces to be in, um, just because of the story, and Paul and Sally were such sweet people.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Yeah, it's really sentimental, and it is a lot of soft skaping in there too.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

The plants and it's just a different feel when you go in there. It's just like you get to breathe a little bit in there. It is a nice place to sit.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

There's there's a couple sitting seating opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Right. And we put the first little lending library in there, and it's always full of books. And so, and then we have a set of wings now that you can go get a picture, and it says Sally's Alley, Jefferson, Iowa, so you know where you are. Yep. I've got a lot of those photos from people that they send me. So that's good. Imagination Alley also is that's just been a fun project because of the fact that number one, I didn't have to be the head of it.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

And but uh Gene Van Gilder.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

Shout out to Gene Van Gilder.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Yeah, and Ginny Schoen. And Gene Gilder. Yeah, yeah. And so those two went with it, and they decided to uh get Kelsey Wilson in involved, she's the artist that she's an illustrator, and you can really tell that with her work and on the wall. And we really wanted it to be a fun, um, child-centered space because it kind of goes to the library. And so I think the girls did a really fantastic job in that space. So and also married technology with artwork the first time forever, everything. Yeah, and so we've got the um augmented reality in there, which is fun for the kids to do.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

That is really cool. Um, how about any surprises along the way? What some of the biggest surprises through through any of these projects?

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Um, I think the biggest surprise is the support. I really didn't know how Jefferson was gonna react with all of these different things that we were doing. But it has been so positive and people have been so appreciative of what we've done for downtown. Um my class reunion was just this last weekend over Bell Tower Festival. I don't know how many times people came up to me, oh thank you so much for keeping Jefferson on the map. Um, it could have died out, and I really do think that the artwork that we've brought here, the the things that we've done to get Jefferson back to where it should be and where it's going in the future, I think that's great. And so I think that's that that's about it.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

I think that's a great well, that's a wonderful surprise.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Yeah, it's a it's a wonderful surprise because a lot of a lot of communities are not lit this way. I we're really unique in Jefferson. We really are, because now that I've gone out to state um things with art other people in the arts for different meetings that I go to or have to speak at, um, people are going, you are so lucky that you have your city behind you, you have your county soup board of supervisors behind you with the ring out for art. that we have, the sculpture exhibition. Home State Bank has just been phenomenal to work with. And so it's just whenever I need something, it's just always there. Yeah. So and that's the what that's what you need.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

In Telecom too, we should be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Telecom Jefferson Telecom. Jeff they've hosted Jefferson Telecom has hosted Porch Fest now two years in a row, I think.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Been the sponsor.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

They've also done rooftop art projects. They were in on this last rooftop art project with the 3D. If anybody hasn't been there, go up and see that. Yes. I was a little worried about that one because I thought can't she really do that 3D from the top of the tower?

SPEAKER_00 22:40

I I want we'll come back to that but I do want to hit one one thing about um certainly ideas are important and great and but you have to have funding to make things happen.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

And I will then add to that that it's easier for funding to come along when they see this support. The rest of the community support and the the energy and the synergy that has gone on gone into these projects people aren't going to want to fund projects that they don't think would make a difference to the community.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

So no and I think Tower View team has a really good reputation of starting something and finishing something. Yeah. You know and they and there is an end date to do it. And so I think that helps too. But the funding um of of course Community Foundation has funded lots of things for us. The Home State Bank like I said has funded lots of things Jefferson Telecom and also Grow Green County Gaming. They took a chance I think that was one of their first major um giveaways was to Imagination Alley. They grant funding big huge grant that we got. And that was that was putting them out on a limb too was that going to work how was that Alley gonna was that really going to help Tower View team and Main Street and and Jefferson and how many eyeballs are going to be on that well they found out I think that they put in a good investment.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Absolutely and and to underscore that having the director of the IEDA the Iowa economic development authority Miss Debbie Durham be talking about that at various events across the state I've seen she she touts that that alley project and uh and so yeah to your point it's it's really paid off for you know and and that's you know Grow Green County Gaming is they they distribute funds all across the county and they're making trying to help make an you know a an impact to uh local municipalities and nonprofits and all the things and do a variety of things and they do a great job of of distributing that across different projects public art is is a unique category to fund and it is I I love that we were able to take that and really make it be a showcase piece for for not just Jefferson but the entire county and make them proud.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

And actually the state because like you said people from across the state know what Jefferson is all about and the first thing they say it's your art that you're known for anymore. And so and I I don't know why that is accepting that we have really good art here.

SPEAKER_00 25:17

I want to hit on um rooftop art again let's come back to that um but I want to start with the the note of last year in Philadelphia when we went to accept winning the the top honor you can win as a Main Street community of uh the Great American Main Street Award and really excited we had 20 of us there to be a part of that this huge beautiful theater in downtown Philadelphia they they uh Main Street America had sent a film crew from New York here to produce a video that kind of talked a little bit about our story um and uh and so they play that before we go up on stage to win the award. Talk about the moment of of the of the drone footage and and what that moment was like well the whole thing was exciting. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

It was amazing but um and to be a part of that you know it was just so thrilling. But anyway the drone starts to go up over the rooftop art and there's a collective oh my God that's so cool um in the entire auditorium I instantly tear up because I'm thinking oh my gosh there's they really liked it.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

It was it was the only out of the three communities and everything and and I was there for for this year's and uh there there was not that wow factor in any of them this year and anything else you know not to like be bragging or anything but it just debate it was and it was so surprising I think it took it took the crowd by surprise again putting art in surprising places pays off. Yeah yeah they just weren't expecting that to me that moment was worth everyone being there for it was it was it was very it was a lovely moment in my I'll remember that a long time me too yeah it's it's uh it was really special so you just kind of had to be there to experience it but it's fun to talk about stuff it is yeah um and really the impact that it made was was evident because it's it's not just the people it's it's people in our profession and volunteers and people who are also equally as dedicated to their communities the way that you are and the our you know our organization is and and so it's people who can really get it and they really appreciate you really got it yeah anyway just but it's exciting for the artists too to have that kind of reaction they could see that from on the they could hear it on the film and or the video that we brought home of the whole thing because it you know it was showing Dana Harrison's beautiful artwork on his roofs and and Nicole Fresh Schilling Wild Woman on the roof and I mean it was great for the you know to to know that we have so much talent in this community.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Yeah and so I was it I was so proud for them too.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Me too yeah me too really really need it all right so we have a brand new one just what even a month not even a month old now?

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Uh so talk a little bit about that and and a little bit how we're you know we are this was this was a risk and we're we're building the plane as we're flying it a little bit on these projects and the different roof materials.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

I'm always build I'm always building the plane while we're flying it because we never really know what's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

That's true.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

But especially with rooftop art nobody's really done that and so didn't have much people to go to talk to about how how do you do this and so everything is research and so um the first one that we did was um Nicole Fresh Schilling did the painted and that's just that's just house paint on top of that roof. It's held up very very well that's on the west side of the west side right next to Imagination and so but this new one um I met Kathleen Joy at um Bell Tower Festival. She was the chalk artist that did the 3D chalk that one year on on the street on Lincoln Way. And I just walked up to her and I said hey I said you ever do anything like on a rooftop she said what and I said well let's go and I'll show you so she she left her little place for a little bit and we went up there and and she said oh my gosh she said I gotta do this and so I said well you know we'll try to get you a roof and so luckily we got a roof and um by this time she was working alongside Andy Laser of Lasure Graphics and because her knees are kind of giving out on her and so she said I can't get down that far anymore to to to do that big of a rooftop. And so what she has done she designed this 3D piece of artwork then gave it to Andy and his company and they manufactured that on vinyl now we've never had a vinyl covered roof before and but they tell me that it's like wrapping a car and with that kind of vinyl and so I said let's take a let's take the risk and see if it works. And they also said it just pulls right off too if you don't want it anymore. I think we do want this for quite a long time. It's really neat it is very cool. It's called Home Sweet Home and which is so fitting it was just in time for the Bell Tower Festival this year and I thought oh how fitting that this is home sweet home and uh it features the prairie flowers and the Iowa flowers.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

Really neat it's very cool. Well we're just gonna say go you got to go see it.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

You gotta go see it and make sure you're looking out the elevator when you when you go up because all of a sudden these flowers just start to come out at you. So it's very cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

It is like I said I was kind of worried that from that angle you know but she nailed it oh yeah it's really well done it's really really well done creative and should last a long time and again and I will say um the the Bell Tower Foundation also gave money for that piece to happen along with uh Jervis and Telecom uh the Grow Green County Gaming and um Jed McGee gave us some money for that and Home State Bank I think a little Tower V team tower team a little bit yeah so great again it's just uh that that uh that funding lasagna just lots of layers there to make it all work as is the case often what I like about it is that these these funders also take a chance yeah you know they don't really know what we're gonna do either yeah you know and so it's just been it's been fun to watch that happen. Agreed. All right let's let's wrap up with uh a non visual art but more uh well some visual uh but more listening art let's t tell us about when Porch Fest is this year and just a little bit about what Porch Fest is yeah Porch Fest came about about three years ago I think this is our fourth one coming up and um again just one of these things that we were talking about and I had heard somebody do Porch Fest in Des Moines I thought we could do that.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

We could do it on our scale. I mean in in Des Moines it's like two days and you uh you know a hundred porches or something and I said but we could do it on our scale and so we decided yeah we could do that and so it's uh four porches four musicians for 45 minutes per porch and you walk you take your chair and walk around to these we try to get them so they're fairly close together around the park around Russell Park and then we end up back down in um at the Welcome Gardens and so we and then we have a bigger band down there. And for and then we have food trucks and it's just kind of grown throughout the years. We had first year we didn't have any food trucks and the second year we had a couple food trucks. Now we've got lots of food trucks and so um it's just grown and and I think it's just a relaxed day in Jefferson. It's very chill very laid back great musicians on each porch we try to not uh repeat musicians so it's just a fun day fun afternoon.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

It is you get together with your friends and neighbors and whoever wants to come and you're all hanging out together. It's just kind of that a building sense of community again and interacting and right and uh doing stuff that's fun outdoor outside and then we end up back downtown. Who doesn't live where it all starts. Yes exactly who doesn't love live music so right live music is great. Yeah tell us the date coming up this year July 12th it starts at 130.

SPEAKER_01 33:06

starts at 130 so lots of information uh online lots of information online about it um we have the four musicians will be Catherine Fox uh she's the other half of We Ramblers um we've got um Andrew um Hoyt we've got Patrice Hartman and then we have the Cedar County Cobras on the porches and then Stranger Things from Ames.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

I'm pressed and that's a uh kind of a rock band older rock band you know so that will be fun it'll be fun we try to have just a fun time we look forward to I said I don't do anything if it's not fun touche touche um last thing are there any upcoming projects that you're excited about that uh or or that you're willing to talk about yet or anything on your the horizon?

SPEAKER_01 33:50

There is there's a very exciting project coming up um it's another mural and it's gonna be at the back half of Arch Alley um but I really don't want to give it out yet okay I get to keep people coming back and wondering what we're doing.

SPEAKER_00 34:06

So you're uh I think you're gonna trying to create a little buzz here?

SPEAKER_01 34:10

K kind of creating a little buzz yeah yeah that's what we're doing. And yeah so but it'll be fun people really enjoy it. And once again it's gonna be a major artist that's going to be doing it. Um it's gonna connect us globally uh he's got these murals these particular murals in five different countries so it's a global art initiative.

SPEAKER_00 34:34

It'll be in Iowa for the only one in Iowa.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

And it's the only one in Iowa so far. So it's it's very very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 34:41

Excellent all right well Deb thank you and we we could go on and on about all these things we could I could keep going I know you could it's it's it's been hard to to uh narrow down the focus a little bit but we didn't even talk about egg phrases oh my gosh yeah poetry and art it's yes we could do a two part series here we could um certainly uh we have all benefited from your passion for bringing art to our community and therefore bringing people to our community and and uh making it a place that you and Mark decided to stay after retirement so we're we're very thankful for that and uh been it's been really fun to get to work with you and have you on our board but also just seeing I mean no other main tree community in Iowa or anywhere has Tower View team. So thanks for thanks for being a part of that and thank you. Yeah and well thanks for tuning in to to this episode and hearing about uh why public art matters to Jefferson uh make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow on all those good things and uh if you hey if you want to get a if you want to get an ad spot here we've we've got space for that too. So you want to you know be a part of these conversations and show your support for for these podcasts uh we reach out and we'll uh we'll bring you on board with that as well but uh until next time stay tuned thanks for watching we'll see you next time