GREENSBURG – The Tree City’s second mural was unveiled Friday behind the Decatur County Community Foundation building on Main Street.
The artist, 23-year-old Haley Burton, of St. Paul, said she was grateful for the chance to leave her mark on a piece of Decatur County.
Public art is part of the Distinctive Place plan, which is a collaboration between the Arts and Cultural Council of Decatur County and Main Street Greensburg.
“I just wanted to thank everybody for allowing me to have this opportunity to share some of my art with you guys and I hope it makes everybody smile a little bit when they drive through here. It’s something a little bit more contemporary for Greensburg,” Burton said.
Burton’s mural features a yellow car sprouting multicolored peony flowers and a couple stalks of wheat on a bright blue background. The mural also includes a cardinal, the state bird, clutching a flower, and perhaps bringing it to build a nest.
Decatur County Arts and Cultural Council President Rachel Harter said, “We are just really excited to have this artist here and to have this piece be presented and up today. I was really honored to be part of the group that got to decide which pieces got displayed. We’re just so excited to bring a little more vibrancy back to the town that we love so much.”
Main Street Greensburg Executive Director Wendy Blake said she was happy to announce that Burton was a Decatur County native. “We didn’t know when we selected her, because she didn’t put it on her application.”
For her part, Burton said the mural itself took about a week to paint. However, the idea itself was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Burton decided to apply for a mural at the last minute, leaving herself only 30 minutes to form an idea and submit the application.
“I was just trying to put myself into it, my artistic style, which is vintage collaging and how I translate that into painting,” Burton said. “And also the agricultural part with the peonies and the wheat, and the car is sort of reminiscent of a Honda Civic.”
The bright, colorful piece of new public art Burton completed is not her first mural.
“I did art in high school and then I put it on the back burner. About half way through [college], I decided to just go for it full time and that’s what I’ve been doing since,” Burton said.
Her artistic education will continue as she leaves next week to continue studying. Burton said she will be attending Pratt Institute for her Master’s Degree.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me out, especially Wendy [Blake] and Sign Masters. They helped me make the panel that I painted on and install it. Thank everybody in Greensburg and I hope they enjoy it,” Burton said.