I learned a lot about murals in the past week by listening to an expert who described the tasks associated with maintaining them.

I serve on the Marshall Area Fine Arts Council board. As part of our September meeting, we heard an interesting overview of mural repair from Southwest Minnesota State University art professor Jim Schwartz.

He spoke about the repair work that was completed this summer on the music mural at the corner of 4th Street and West Main. He also described the work that will be done on the history mural along Third Street.

Until I heard the presentation, I was not aware of the upkeep needed to maintain murals. I thought they were just painted onto the sides of sturdy downtown buildings, where they could last for at least 20 years before they would need repairs.

Annual freezing and thawing takes its toll on mural surfaces. It gets to the point that they still look good from a distance, but not up close. On close inspection, someone sees the cracking and peeling that gets sizable within five years.

At that point the artist needs to come back and make the necessary repairs to keep the mural in good condition. It’s a carefully planned process, one that’s designed to produce the kind of color combinations that will impress viewers.

Marshall leaders showed foresight after the millennium by installing three murals. Along with the music and history murals, we have a sports mural at the Varsity Pub on West Main.

They cost about $5,000 each time they’re repaired. Over the course of 50 years it totals about $50,000 for each mural.

That sounds like a lot of money, but we have to remember what the murals do for the business district. They give it character. They’re something different, something you can’t find in every downtown.

One of the foremost goals for downtown business districts is to encourage people to spend time in the public areas, to do more than just going to a particular store and then leaving.

They’re more likely to do that if we have amenities like murals. They’re visually pleasing. They reflect the history and culture of the community. They speak volumes in terms of what the community stands for and what ideas it represents.

In addition to the murals, Marshall has come a long way in displaying sculptures. We have Mrs Whitney on the corner of East College Drive next to Liberty Park. We have the mustang at SMSU, along with the sculptures in front of the Student Center and the Red Baron Arena.

Sculptures are somewhat more durable than murals, but they as well are likely to need repair work after a certain number of years.

They’re an investment. They showcase the community in ways that stand out for both visitors and local residents. It demonstrates what we’re all about.

Future plans might possibly include upgrading the older Peterson Music murals on the sides of the four-story downtown music building.

It would make sense. It’s the tallest building in the business district except for the six-story Parkview Apartments. It reflects the days when pianos, organs and other instruments were sold at the downtown location.

The potential for downtown beautification shouldn’t be underestimated. People wondered when it was decided to turn the Marshall Hotel property into a plaza. It led to a nice looking downtown gathering place known as Terrace 1872, an asset to the business district.

We should be open to future ideas for downtown. We should want concepts that will encourage people to visit and in some cases to live in the downtown area.

Downtown business districts came of age before the automobile. We need to prove that they’re still vital. We need to show that they can still attract attention in the modern motorized world.

–Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent