Downtown mural features Seymour’s landmarks, history

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What began as a bare brick wall along the city’s main thoroughfare into the downtown district now features iconic scenes of Seymour.

A mural painted by Murals and More of Franklin, Tennessee, on the Edward Jones building on the southeast corner of Tipton and Chestnut streets was completed Friday.

It shows what this community has become known for throughout its history, including music, a train, agriculture and downtown buildings.

The mural also features specific landmarks, including the infamous Reno Gang, the Jackson County Visitor Center depot, Seymour Oktoberfest, Seymour High School and three Tuskegee Airmen at the Freeman Army Airfield.

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The images are shown within letters that spell out Seymour with “The Crossroads of Southern Indiana” written on the bottom.

Michael Cooper, who owns Murals and More, said it was completed in eight and a half days over the course of two weeks. He said he and three others worked from about 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. or later to condition the wall and prime it with paint before painting the mural.

It has three coats of paint and includes a clear coat with an ultraviolet protection that will preserve it for years.

The crew finished it Friday in the anticipation of Monday’s rain.

“We looked at that forecast and figured we’d better complete it when we did, and it worked out,” Cooper said.

The design was selected by Seymour Main Street and was made from photographs and other reference material gathered by Cooper and his staff.

“We’re old school. No computers used,” he said, adding the crew put together photos to make the composite.

Cooper said his company produced several possible images and ideas to Seymour Main Street’s design committee before the final design was selected.

“It’s kind of like peeling an onion by listening to what they’re saying they want,” he said. “Then we use our talents to create what they had envisioned.”

Becky Schepman, executive director of Seymour Main Street, said she is thrilled with Cooper’s work on the new mural.

“I can’t believe how great it looks,” she said. “It doesn’t even looked painted because things are so clear. It’s unreal.”

Schepman said it was a long process to select what the organization wanted and make sure the mural was not overwhelming.

“We wanted everything to be represented but not be too much,” she said. “That was tricky, and I think he did a great job.”

Schepman said the mural only improves the downtown area and helps bring together all of the other projects Seymour Main Street has completed.

“It was a big placemaking move,” she said. “We’ve worked on recruiting business and retaining business, planning events and with the improvements to the benches and signs, we’ve been working on the placemaking.”

The mural also could be a place for people to take photographs, Schepman said. The fact that it shows Seymour’s identity and spells out the name could attract John Mellencamp fans who visit Seymour, for senior pictures or people who are simply shopping downtown.

“It will be a good photo op but also will serve as a great branding for downtown,” she said.

The mural also is the beginning of others that are planned, and the organization has a lot of options.

One of those is one that many have suggested throughout the years. Schepman said the design committee recently received clearance from the owners of the silos near the railroad crossing to paint a mural on the side of them.

She said the organization had not received permission in the past, but now, it is a possibility.

“There are a ton of ideas for the silos, which is kind of the gateway to the downtown,” she said. “That’s a bigger project, so we may not be able to do others downtown if we did that one.”

Schepman said the design committee may do a community poll to see what people think about where additional murals should be placed.

If the silos do not work out, Schepman said she would like to see three or four more murals on the sides of buildings in the downtown.

Cooper has done that in other communities where he paints one a year for several years, which allows communities to establish a mural tour.

Schepman said the committee does not know what the other murals will feature but that Cooper has a list of ideas that originated with the mural that was just completed.

Cooper, who has painted murals from coast to coast, said he and his crew enjoyed spending time in Seymour throughout the last two weeks. He felt the community was welcoming.

“I had never been here before and couldn’t have even told you where you were,” he said. “It’s a fabulous town, and I love it. The people are awesome because everyone is friendly, and it has a great old-town feel where everybody makes you feel like you have lived there forever.”

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