Editor’s note: Whiteside Economic Development Director Gary Camarano wrote this article.
A new trail map entitled “Building Art,” featuring murals in the Whiteside County/Northwest Illinois Region, has been released by Whiteside County Economic Development. The trail map is accessible on the Whiteside County website. It identifies 40 pieces of Building Art by name and address, and contains a brief description and thumbnail of the mural.
The map covers murals in Tampico, Prophetstown, Sterling, Rock Falls, Morrison, Fulton, and Mt. Carroll, IL. Topics range from historic Highway U. S. 30, to a historic depression era Work Progress Administration (WPA) mural in Mt. Carroll’s Post Office, to several murals honoring Presidents Lincoln and Reagan.
According to Whiteside Economic Development Director Gary Camarano, the map, “is a collaboration between our ED Department and the County’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Coordinator, Lauren Lee. Lee did a lot of the research and detail work on the map and came up with a fantastic visual tool. I think it will help with tourism, support and encourage local art in the region, beautify our communities, and preserve a bit of the region’s history.”
Howard “Bud” Thompson, former Mayor of Prophetstown, artist, and current Whiteside County Board member, has been active in regional mural projects for years. He said, “What I love about our local murals is that they help preserve some of our history, and engaged some of our local High School artists. They were really a labor of love.” Thompson is active in preserving the murals and can often be seen at work on a mural in fairer weather.
The “Building Art” map will be subject to editing. Murals from around the Region will be added when they are brought to the Whiteside Economic Development Department’s attention. Camarano said, “We’ll start the additions with the new mural completed earlier this week in Sterling, by artist Ann Hermes, and will be open to any of the communities in Northwest Illinois who would like to contribute to the map.”
The “Building Art” map additions can be added by emailing econdev@whiteside.org. The County website also contains additional story maps, and new ones will be added on a regular basis to promote the Region, its attractions, and businesses.
