Color My World

No, I have not picked up on the current coloring craze. That craze would make me crazy. I'm talking about the colorful new murals around town.

This one, completed last fall, is on the west side of the building at the basketball court in McKinley Park. You can see it while driving down the east side of Lake McKinley. Designed and painted by Creston art students, I'm sure the train pays homage to Creston's history as a railroad town.

This spring, the mural on the east side of the basketball courts was completed by the art students with the help of Tyler Downey. It was fun to see the progress as I drove past it daily on the way to the Y.

It was during that unusually hot spell last month that Tyler Downey and others painted this mural on the west wall of the Park Street railroad underpass near our home. I had to ask my niece if, with the same last name, Tyler was related to Carla. Remembering her artistic talents, I thought it was possible. Indeed, Tyler is her nephew. (For my few unrelated readers, Carla became part of my family after my sister died and my brother-in-law remarried. So not exactly my sister-in-law, but, sort of.)

The south end of this underpass mural. It didn't show well enough in the above photo and since the McKinley Park Farmers Market is such a big part of our summer.....

The other side of the underpass is a blank canvas with the exception of this motif. Creston will be an overnight stop on this year's RAGBRAI, thus the bicycle?
I thought Downey might be doing another mural for this side, but I see by his FB page he has gone back to Portland. (Creston is his hometown.)

The latest mural is along Adams Street west of downtown. My niece sees this all the time as she staffs the drive up window at the bank where she works.
I assumed this one was also by Tyler Downey, but the Creston Arts page enlightened me. The artist is Jordan Weber with design help from the CHS art students. Its bright colors and subject matter will welcome RAGBRAI riders to the downtown area on the 25th.

We've been to a couple displays in the Arts Gallery in the old depot building downtown, but I need to remember to check their schedule more often. I know I'd like the photography exhibits as well as some others. And I like that the Creston:Arts FB page is so informative about not only what is going on in Creston but also the surrounding area.