City Council votes to restore iconic arts center mural to original design
The Bloomington City Council voted to preserve the original design of the 'Creating Together' mural at the Center for the Arts during an October 2 meeting. The decision ensures that the beloved community landmark will be restored to its 2007 appearance rather than redesigned.
The council's vote affirmed a previous decision to maintain the mural's original artistic vision as it undergoes restoration work. Erik Pearson, the artist who created the mural 17 years ago, presented details about the project to council members.
Pearson explained that the mural depicts characters from different artistic disciplines working together—a dancer, actor, singer, painter, and ceramicist—to represent how the various arts organizations in the building collaborate. "Each character is sort of helping the other character with their profession, kind of showing how all the art organizations are connected and kind of help each other out," Pearson said.
The restoration became necessary due to sun exposure. The mural faces north and east, causing significant fading, particularly in the black areas. "It definitely needed a restore work," Pearson noted. The original contract for the mural included a clause requiring the project to be revisited after 10 to 15 years to assess its condition—a timeline that has now been reached.
Beyond its artistic merit, Pearson highlighted the mural's practical importance to the community. "Big murals are wonderful because they can be these wayfinding, placemaking devices," he explained. "People can say, go to the big turquoise building with the mural on it if they don't know what this building is, because it becomes sort of that visual landmark." The restoration is projected to extend the mural's lifespan for another 10 to 15 years.
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Restoration of 'Creating Together' Mural
Artist Erik Pearson provides an overview of the mural's history, its conceptual design to connect various artistic disciplines within the building, and the physical reasons (sun fading) necessitating its restoration in 2024. He highlights the mural's importance as a 'wayfinding, placemaking device' and a visual landmark for the community. The restoration follows a previous vote to maintain the mural's original design.
The name of the mural is Creating Together. The design idea was supposed to take characters from different artistic organizations within this building and have one character represent each one. We have some ceramics going on. There's a dancer, there's an actor, there's a singer, and there's a painter. Each character is sort of helping the other character with their profession, kind of showing how all the art organizations are connected and kind of help each other out.
It was always built into the contract that the mural would last 10 to 15 years, and then we would revisit the project and see how well it's holding up. And then it was voted that they wanted to keep it the way that it was originally, which is great.
It's facing north and east, so it gets hit by the sun quite a bit. So it got some fading, especially in the black areas, which I'm covering up right now. So it definitely needed a restore work.
I think that's why a lot of big murals are wonderful because they can be these wayfinding, placemaking devices. So people can say, go to the big turquoise building with the mural on it if they don't know what this building is, because it becomes sort of that visual landmark.
Source document
[0:05] - Looking at the size of your brush
[0:08] and looking at the size of the wall
[0:09] and thinking, I gotta paint
this whole wall about four times
[0:13] with a four inch brush.
[0:14] It sometimes can be daunting
[0:16] when you think about it that way.
[0:18] I am Erik Pearson.
[0:20] I am the muralist who created
this painting in 2007,
[0:25] and now I'm restoring it in 2024.
[0:28] The name of the mural
is Creating Together.
[0:31] The design idea was
supposed to take characters
[0:35] from different artistic
organizations within this building
[0:40] and have one character represent each one.
[0:43] We have some ceramics going on.
[0:44] There's a dancer, there's an actor,
[0:48] there's a singer, and there's a painter.
[0:51] Each character is sort of
helping the other character
[0:53] with their profession, kind of showing
[0:56] how all the art
organizations are connected
[0:59] and kind of help each other out.
[1:01] It was always built into the contract that
[1:04] the mural would last 10 to 15 years,
[1:07] and then we would revisit the project
[1:09] and see how well it's holding up.
[1:12] And then it was voted that
they wanted to keep it the way
[1:15] that it was originally, which is great.
[1:19] It's facing north and east,
[1:22] so it gets hit by the sun quite a bit.
[1:24] So it got some fading,
especially in the black areas,
[1:28] which I'm covering up right now.
[1:31] So it definitely needed a restore work.
[1:34] Even the stuff that
doesn't look as worn out,
[1:37] when I put a fresh coat
on, it really just pops.
[1:41] I love that it can be recognized,
[1:45] it kind of follows me everywhere.
[1:47] I think that's why a lot
of big murals are wonderful
[1:50] because they can be these
wayfinding, placemaking devices.
[1:56] So people can say, go to
the big turquoise building
[1:59] with the mural on it if they don't know
[2:01] what this building is,
[2:02] because it becomes sort
of that visual landmark.
[2:05] So it's nice that it's going
[2:07] to be seen again the way it was.
[2:09] And it is just so exciting to be back here
[2:12] and it brings back so many memories
[2:14] of the first time that I was here.
[2:16] It's gonna be guaranteed
to last 10 to 15 years,
[2:20] and then we will revisit
it again at that point.
[2:23] So who knows, maybe
another 15 or 17 years,
[2:26] I'll be climbing back up here again,
[2:29] which sounds amazing.
[2:33] It's like revisiting an old friend.
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