Mural work starts today

~ The delay in repainting the "Missouri Wall of Fame" was caused by the artist's paint supplier.

For now the floodwall where the "Missouri Wall of Fame" mural used to be is bare. But not for much longer.

Chicago artist Thomas Melvin is scheduled to roll into town this afternoon to start work on the update of the mural -- nearly a month after he was originally scheduled to begin work.

On Wednesday Melvin said that the holdup on the work doesn't represent any problems with the project -- other than with his paint supplier, that is. Melvin said the paints he had ordered for the project were supposed to arrive at his Chicago studio Aug. 1. Instead they arrived just a few days ago.

"That was just a physical holdup," Melvin said. "I was really ready to start, but then we just decided at that point that if the paint was coming we'd have to push it back."

The River Heritage Mural Association is heading the project. The association raised funds for and administered the creation of the "Mississippi River Tales" floodwall mural that was completed at the end of 2004. Melvin was also the artist on that project.

As part of the update, crews sandblasted the old mural that was originally painted by Margaret Dement in 1995. The mural depicts the images of famous people with connections to Missouri, such as Stan Musial, Jesse James, Harry Truman and Rush Limbaugh.

Association president Tim Blattner unveiled the plans for the update in February along with Melvin at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri. The project was estimated to cost $85,000 to $90,000 project. Out of that, Blattner said, about $55,000 will need to be raised through sponsorships.

Initially Blattner reported sluggish sales of sponsorships, but the association changed its sales strategy, allowing for more affordable sponsorships of small sections of the mural. After that, Blattner said, sales picked up.

Now a little more than $25,000 has been raised -- enough to start the project. Blattner said fund-raising efforts are still strong and that he expects to see a greater increase in sponsorships as the painting work begins and residents get a chance to visualize the finished project.

After some prep work, Melvin said, his crew should be able to begin painting early next week.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182