A Bold, New Mural In Powell
Written by Mac Watson on May 28, 2024
There’s a vibrant, modern look in Powell as a faded, decades-old mural has been replaced by a big, bold, design that was created by a local artist.
For the past three decades, when people drive through the city of Powell on Coulter Avenue, after the second stoplight they were greeted by a picture of the man who the town is named for on the side of three-story bean elevator. But sun, wind, and rain took its toll and faded the image of Powell’s namesake, Major John Wesley Powell, early day explorer, conservationist, and head of the Reclamation/Geodetic Service at the time of consideration of the Shoshone Project.
(Photo courtesy of the City of Powell).
The design for the new mural took a little over a year with the public’s input. It’s more than 50-feet high and features a striking image of Heart Mountain that transitions from a brilliant Wyoming sunset to a night sky filled with stars. The multi-day project took almost 1,700 screws and a couple of days to install, according to the Powell Tribune.
The ponderous project united a number of people to bring the mural to a reality, starting with the company that owns the building with the space to put a mural. Treasure Valley Seed, who has hosted the mural since it was installed over 30 years ago, offered to pay for lighting installation so people can see if night or day.
Other entities that also pitched in the funding to get the magnificent mural designed and installed were the Park County Travel Council that provided a $32,200 grant, the City of Powell gave $15,000 and the Moyer Foundation contributed $10,000.
Turnbow Signs, formerly of Cody and now in Washington, Utah, took the design and made it into a massive reality. In fact, the company has done this kind of job before, installing the original mural back in 1997.
Live Wire Electric and LM Construction were responsible for the electrification and lighting installation.
But the mural isn’t the only piece of art that will be on display in Powell. Work is scheduled to begin on a new downtown mural behind the Plaza Diane Community Center for the Arts in the next few weeks.
