Posted noon Friday, Sept. 23, 2016
Students take advantage of opportunity to leave lasting mark on the city.
Story posted in fall 2016
While most UWL students were either home for summer or in town working a summer job, a pair of students were working diligently inside the Center for the Arts on campus. Sophomore Bekah Kienzle and senior Julie Pleshe had the rare opportunity to leave their mark on La Crosse. They were approached to create an 8 by 16-foot mural in the city that looked like a greeting postcard.
“They wanted it to highlight La Crosse and the iconic places that people love,” says Kienzle, an art major.
The students tracked their progress on a blog and on Instagram. The public will be able to see the full mural at the southside Oktoberfest ground this year, and for years to come.
Artistic passion
For Pleshe, this is a totally unexpected opportunity, especially since she is pursuing a communications studies major and Spanish minor. She has worked to maintain art classes in her schedule.
“I’m not an art student, but I still did something like this,” says Pleshe. “I hope it encourages people to follow their passion, even if it’s not something they’re going to school for. It’s important to seek these opportunities.”
Possibly even more unexpected, the students received an undergraduate research and creativity grant for the project.
“I thought grants were for people doing medical research,” says Kienzle. “I didn’t know we could use it for art, but I’ve learned so much doing this mural.”
Part of the grant sent Pleshe and Kienzle on a trip to see murals in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their travel provided an opportunity to tour the cities’ newest urban murals, learn techniques from professional mural painters and see the iconic imagery. The project was also funded in part by La Crosse Festivals, Inc., the parent organization of the annual Oktoberfest USA celebration in a Crosse. The mural will be unveiled at its permanent location during an event at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26