March 28, 2024

Painting the town, one bridge at a time

Residents may notice new artwork on their daily commutes; the Creston Mural Project has begun its work on the Spruce Street bridge, with plans to do the same with the bridges on Sycamore and Division streets.

The project was the brainchild of City Councilor Gabe Carroll and Chris Coke, co-founder of Creston:Arts.

“He (Carroll) was like, ‘We need more art,’ and he said ‘You’re not doing anything, why don’t you do it?’ So, I mean, that was literally that simple,” explained Coke.

When thinking about the initial planning of the project, Coke felt that the neighborhoods in Creston were the best venue for new murals.

“Right now a lot of the painting is focused in the uptown (area),” said Coke. “I want it to spread out throughout the town, all over the place.”

Coke then went to the council to ask for funding. As the minutes from that meeting on May 15 reflect, Coke asked the council to provide power washing and black and white paint. However, he offered to do the labor himself and provide spray paint.

“I’m supplying the spray paint because I’m putting my money where my mouth is, and I want other organizations to do the same,” said Coke.

Coke explained that progress on the project has been slower than he would have liked, due to rain and sickness. However, bridges are near completion; spray paint will be the next step, since Coke brush-painted on Monday. The final result will resemble wrought iron, inspired by British architecture.

“I saw these ugly white bridges and I was like, ‘What can we do (with those)?’” said Coke. “And I had been reading a book that had a oral history — and this is so nerdy — a oral history of the architecture in London. And it was talking about the bridges in one section and I saw all these bridges, and I was like, ‘Oh, what if we use the architecture of the bridges that already exist and come back in and add more to it, paint it and make it look like wrought iron?’”

The fine “ironwork,” or scalloping, will be done with spray paint and stencils, which Coke will provide himself. Each bridge’s design is directly inspired by a bridge in England.

More information, including updates, about the project can be found on the Creston Mural Project Facebook page.