Explore Iowa's Wayne COunty culture trail

There are 16 new and retouched murals all around Wayne County, including at least one in every incorporated town:

Allerton

• Round Barn: Knapp Park. Designed by Alicia Rheal, Madison, WI.
• Coca-Cola: Old Time Soda Fountain. Designed by Ray Guzman, Hoboken, NJ.
• POW-MIA: Carla Hackney Building. Designed by Glenn Avery, Rockford, IL.
• Six Toed Cat: Inn of the Six Toed Cat. Designed by David Butler, Syracuse, IN.
• Allerton Chautauquas: City Hall. Designed by Brent Logan, Dubuque, IA.

Clio

• Shane Hill Sluggers: Branded Design Photography. Designed by Wade Lambrigtsen and Nico Alexander, Menomonie, WI and Minneapolis, MN.

Corydon

• Jesse James Bank Robbery: Wayne Theatre. Designed by Joe and Ben Diaz, Pontiac, IL.
• Come, Come Ye Saints: Prairie Trails Museum. Designed by Steve Estes, Mayfield, KY.
• 100 Years of Batteries: Redeemed. Designed by Sonny Franks, Russ Kelly, and Eric Skinner, Atlanta, GA and Ontario, Canada.
• Farm Aid: Wayne County Courthouse. Designed by Elaine Wallis, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
• Gone With the Wind: Wayne Theatre. Designed by Miranda Ensink, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Humeston

• How the School Was Named: City Hall. Designed by David Johnson, Mt. Barker, Western Australia.

Lineville

• Eagle, Flag, and Fireworks: MFA. Designed by Scott Lindley, Mt. Pulaski, IL.

Millerton

• Lyle Tuttle - Granddaddy of Tattoos: Barb Nickell-Clark Building. Designed by Dan Luckin, Chelmsford, United Kingdom.

Promise City

• Amy Robertson: Community Center. Designed by Noel Weber, Boise, ID.

Seymour

• Inez Voyce - A League of Their Own: Snider Building. Designed by Crystal White, Brooklyn, NY.

During the festival, 14 of these murals were painted on panels at Wayne County Fairgrounds and installed at their final locations shortly after the event. The only murals painted onsite were the Coca-Cola Mural at the Old Time Soda Fountain in Allerton, and the Eagle/Flag/Fireworks mural at MFA in Lineville.

When choosing mural themes, we prioritized the following:

• Individuals, groups, or issues that are historically relevant to the town in which the mural will be displayed.
• Concepts for which we have existing historical reference materials - i.e., photographs, historical memorabilia, etc. This is important for giving the artists source material for their designs, since the artists may not be familiar with the topic before starting work.
• Concepts that can be turned into an inspiring mural and draw tourism (due to the appeal of the subject), provide educational opportunities (due to the concept’s historical relevance), or recognize an important piece of our community’s history.

Mural themes were selected by the Walldog local committee, including the Director of the Prairie Trails Museum / Wayne County Historical Society (for historical relevance and research materials) and the Executive Director of Wayne County Development Corporation (for tourism/economic impact and for insight on how previous Walldogs murals benefitted their local communities). They also strove to balance the topics of each mural not just within each city, but also across Wayne County.

Mural locations were chosen based on:

• Size suitability: we prioritized buildings that could accommodate large murals (the smallest is 6’ x 16’; most are 8’ x 24’ or larger).
• Structural suitability: we prioritized buildings that are structurally sound and can host a permanent installation (either on panels or painted directly on the surface).
• Communities: we committed to putting at least one mural in every incorporated city in Wayne County (Allerton, Clio, Corydon, Humeston, Lineville, Millerton, Promise City, Seymour). We also committed to restoring the Allerton murals from the original (first!) Walldogs gathering in 1993. Corydon is also getting more than one mural because of its usefulness as a starting point for the mural trail, as well as the availability of multiple buildings that were suitable for murals and financial support from the city.

Note that in some cases, a mural may not be immediately visible from the main highway through town – especially in cases where the best building or wall for the mural wasn’t on the main highway. However, we believe that mural trail tourists will seek out these murals, which also gives them a chance to stop in town rather than just driving by.

In most cases, murals will be painted on panels and attached to buildings after the event is over. While these installations are intended to be permanent, this allows us to move a mural in the event that a building is no longer structurally suitable for a mural.

Murals are owned in perpetuity by Wayne County Development Corporation and will be maintained by WCDC, using any funds raised during / after the event.

There are three main benefits for Wayne County and its residents:

1. Tourism. The addition of 16 murals in our community will be an immediate attraction to outside visitors. We chose a wide range of topics intentionally, with the hopes that tourists who visit one town’s mural(s) will go on to visit other murals in the county. See below for more information about the ‘mural trail.’
2. Education. To complement each mural, we’ll build a web page (linked by a QR code at each mural site) to give tourists and local residents more information about the mural theme, the history behind the theme, and the artists responsible for the mural. We envision that these murals can be used as an educational opportunity for local schools, since students would be able to see the murals and use them as a jumping-off-point for research.
3. Beautification. Adding murals to our towns increases their appeal and adds character to buildings throughout the county.

We want to use the Walldogs murals as an ongoing tourism driver for Wayne County. To do this, we’re creating a ‘mural trail’ to guide tourists to all of the murals in the area.

Here’s how tourists will find and follow the mural trail:

• Each mural will have a QR code onsite that links to a website with more information about that mural. It will also point visitors to an online map of all the other Walldogs murals in Wayne County.
• The Prairie Trails Museum will also serve as a ‘starting point’ for the mural trail. By sharing the map with visitors who are already in Wayne County for tourism purposes, we hope to point visitors to towns they might not have otherwise visited. Other ‘starting points’ may be identified throughout the county depending on budget and interest.
• We intend to publicize the mural trail via brochures at local hotels (including in surrounding counties) and in tourism magazines and sites.