Art in transition; Downtown effort hopes to generate permanent improvement

Beautification of the downtown Poplar Bluff area has become a big topic as the city works to revitalize its hub, and the Poplar Bluff Parks and Recreation Department is doing its part to make the area brighter.

For the last few weeks, artist Tara Brown has been working on a new, water-themed mural, which will span the entire length of the west side of the Huntington Pool building near Hillcrest Park.

The park department “called and asked me to do it, and I was happy to do it,” Brown said.

Tara Brown works on a new water-themed mural at the Huntington Pool, which will feature several waves and a colorful surfboard. Park department officials hope this will be the perfect spot for a selfie.DAR/Paul Davis

“It’s really an effort to bring more beauty and warmth to Poplar Bluff, and I see our city leaders backing that,” Brown said.

Brown cited what she called the “broken window” effect when discussing the project.

“I really feel like we have a desire in Poplar Bluff to bring beauty and warmth to the community,” she said. “I think if you clean up a community, then you’re going to have less crime and more smiles.”

Artist Tara Brown begins painting the last of several waves as part of a mural she’s working on at the Huntington Pool.DAR/Paul Davis

Parks and Recreation Department horticulturist Murray Hammond agreed, saying “I’m kind of like Tara … the more you do around town and downtown, you’ll get other people motivated to clean up and do some different things.”

Beautification of the area isn’t the only reason for the mural, however. Part of it, Hammond said, is to quell rumors the pool will be moved.

“The hope is to let people know that we’re not moving out of downtown. The pool is going to stay there,” he insisted.

Tara Brown also completed this wings painting, located across from the Rodgers Theatre, and plans to create other woks soon in the small downtown park across from the post office.DAR/Paul Davis

Rumors, he said, have been spread about the department building a civic center somewhere else, but “that’s not going to happen.”

The mural also is part of the general modernization to the poolhouse, Hammond said.

“We’re going to continue to work on that building, and I have some other ideas to update it some,” he said.

Brown, who has a bachelor’s degree in art education, said she “started this about two, maybe three weeks ago, and I’ve put in some pretty long days.”

The mural features several waves of water, each getting progressively larger as you approach the pool.

That, Brown said, is by design to point visitors toward the pool.

“We’re also doing waves in the hopes that in a couple years, we’ll put a wave and splash park in, “ Brown said.

The center of the mural, Brown said, will feature a colorful surfboard, which, she said, will be the perfect spot for visitors to take selfies.

“I’m going to add an orange, yellow and green surfboard, so the kids can stand and act like they’re on it,” she said.

The waves of the mural have a broad depth of colors and bright highlights, Brown said, to create a realness effect.

“It has some reflective flashes coming through, and I really like that,” Brown said. “I also like that they’ve given me creative freedom to look at it and say, ‘Well, I think we need to do this or that to let it grow.’”

With her years of painting experience, Brown said, she is free-handing the entire mural.

“My tools are kind of all the years of experience and the time that I’ve put in,” she said.

Brown previously completed a painting depicting a set of wings on another downtown building across from the Rodgers Theatre, which, she said, has been popular.

“A lot of people have come down and taken pictures in front of the wings as a photo op,” Brown noted.

“I think it was the first mural the city said yes to,” Brown said of the work, which also was approved by the Butler County Historical Society.

“The wings were my idea and were inspired by my little sister. I just wanted people to enjoy downtown Poplar Bluff, and a photo op mural was a good way to do it,” Brown said.

The pool mural, she said, is expected to be completed by Saturday, and after a week-long youth art camp at the Margaret Harwell Art Museum, Brown will begin her next downtown art project.

“Across from the post office in the little park, I am going to be painting flowers and different little sceneries inside each window there,” she said.