Muralist and 19-year Bloomington resident Eva Allen said she only dreamed that her sketch on a eight-and-a-half-by-11-inch piece of paper would be displayed on the wall in Peoples Park. That hope became a reality, and she is now the artist behind the new mural that reads "Bloomington" on the side of the Bicycle Garage. We spoke with Allen, 43, about how she came across the opportunity to paint one of Bloomington's most well-known spots and what people can expect the finished wall to look like.
This article has been condensed and edited for clarity.
INDIANA DAILY STUDENT: How did this opportunity come about?
ALLEN: I saw a post on Facebook. One of my friends had tagged me because she knows that I paint. So she said, 'It would be great if you could get one of these jobs.' This was the third one that I actually had sent in a proposal for and the first one that the panel choose.
IDS: What was your vision for the mural when you proposed your idea?
ALLEN: The city asked for something, I mean it was pretty broad, but something that would represent Bloomington and civil streets. And in my brainstorming process, I thought it'd be great to have one of those vintage postcard kind of looking wall murals that say, 'Welcome to Bloomington' and at the bottom it will say, 'You belong here.' And every frame, every letter, is a different picture of either the culture, the history or something else that represents Bloomington.
IDS: Can you tell me what the application process was like to be the muralist for the Peoples Park wall?
ALLEN: I created a résumé, submitted around 10 pictures of things that I had painted in the past, wrote a little bio about myself and experience and then why I would like to do this mural and what it means to me. Then I just submitted the sketch, it was a rough little sketch, but a sketch nonetheless of the whole thing on an eight-and-a-half-by-11 piece of paper. Then probably three of the letters I made in color so that they would be larger so that the panel could see basically what my thought process was.
IDS: What were your thoughts when you found out you'd get to do this mural?
ALLEN: I just about cried. I was so excited. I just couldn't believe it. It's literally a dream come true. When I started painting murals 20 years ago, I just began to see more and more murals on the sides of buildings and I thought, 'Someday I would love to paint a huge mural on the side of a brick building.' And when I got it, it was like this is a dream come true.
IDS: Where did the ideas for each letter start?
ALLEN: I sent in I believe two or three pictures to the panel, letting them know that I could really do whatever they wanted, if they had suggestions or those kinds of thing. The first one that I had added was the one on the 'M' right now. It's the courthouse with the canopy of lights because every Christmas time we have the canopy of lights. Then on an 'O' is World Music. Then the panel had requested that there be some kind of nod to pride and to black history. The second 'O,' is the Bethel A.M.E church, it's an African American church that has been around for well over 100 years and has pretty big presence here. So other things that they requested, because it is partly sponsored by Parks and Rec, this is the cascades waterfall at the lower cascades park. There will be cyclists, because this is the Bicycle Garage's wall. The cyclist will be in the last letter that will be on a trail going into the woods. The third 'O' will have the Bloomington Bicentennial logo on there that's not really out yet, but it will be out there soon. The Woolery Mill is one letter, limestone is huge in Bloomington and surrounding areas and, they want something that would represent that. The 'B' will be the Sample Gates with tulips coming up in the foreground. The 'L' is going to be the B-Line trail with the blue bridge over it. The 'G' is basketball, because basketball is huge in Bloomington.
IDS: How long will this entire mural take to do?
ALLEN: Probably a month.
IDS: Overall, what is the message you want to get across through this mural?
ALLEN: I would say a sense of humble pride in our city. How many things it has to offer and how rich the culture is and also a sense of belonging and inclusivity that the community has or that I would like to see have more of.
