MURALS ALLOW HERITAGE TO LOOK DOWN ON CITY

Some of our heritage is staring down on us these days, and from a number of locales. Thanks to the River Heritage Mural Association, the city has a great deal of its history on display, in addition to benefiting from some visual excitement on downtown streets. We applaud the association for its recently completed work and wish it well in fulfilling its goal of 10 murals in 10 years. The community is better for this grand ambition.

In recent days, painters have put the finishing touches on the transfer of a Jake Wells mural onto a wall at the corner of Broadway and Fountain Street. Wells, a retired professor at Southeast Missouri State University and an artist whose work has been influenced by Thomas Hart Benton, donated the original artwork to the River Heritage Museum; his mural depicts the founding of Cape Girardeau and is a bicentennial gift to the city. Prints of the original work sold to help fund the wall painting were impressive enough; the completed project, 22 feet tall and 40 feet wide, is a breathtaking addition to the downtown area.

Among the other works of the association are murals looking down on Spanish Street and at the intersection of Themis and Water streets, plus one that greets river travelers on the outside of the downtown floodwall. Though not a part of the association's work, the Southeast Missourian boasts an historic mural on the Lorimier Street side of its downtown building. With the new Wells work finished, Cape Girardeau might rightfully promote itself as a "city of murals," with more on the way.

We join with other citizens of this community in applauding this endeavor and hope the good work continues.