The Four Sisters to be centerpiece of Cheyenne Mural Project
Feb. 23—CHEYENNE — Thanks to a local community organization, parts of Cheyenne will be receiving a fresh coat of paint early this summer.
After a successful fundraising event last October, the Leadership Cheyenne Class of 2022 elected to direct the proceeds toward the addition of four new murals on the exteriors of the Central Plaza Hotel, Habitat for Humanity, Crossfit Frontier and VMAccel, a technology and cloud computing company in Cheyenne.
The goal is to provide Cheyenne with a beautification project that adds more vibrant culture to the city and that offers room for expansion in the future.
"What we all agreed upon was having murals in town that get everyone's attention," Matt Sturtevant said during a small Cheyenne Mural Project gathering on Wednesday. "They're almost collectible. They're a series of murals that benefit the businesses, that benefit the Chamber and benefit the community."
It was Leadership Cheyenne's responsibility to compile a list of businesses that were interested in such an opportunity. After receiving applications, the team whittled the list down to four businesses.
"We asked (the businesses) to send in pictures and a letter telling us why they thought they would be a deserving recipient for one of the murals," said Robert Trevizo, a member of the Leadership Cheyenne Class of 2022. "Once we got them all in, we looked at all the options and picked the top four that we thought were most visible."
But their selections were made based on more than just aesthetics.
These businesses were deemed fit to represent the four sisters of Cheyenne — four angels representing the values of Truth, Justice, Courage and Hope. The original statues of the four sisters were added to the state Capitol in 2019 and remain there today in honor of 150 years of women's suffrage in Wyoming.
Each business will receive a depiction of one angel in order to better connect the values to the city's image.
The murals are to be designed and painted by local artist Jordan Dean, whose work can already be seen in eight different locations throughout the city. During the gathering, he spoke about the projects and presented several pieces of concept art to the audience.
Dean warned that these works have already undergone distinct changes, so the final products will look quite different from those seen on Wednesday. However, the paintings are uniquely stylized when compared to other murals in downtown and will serve as colorful waypoints in highly visible locations in Cheyenne.
Because of their aspirations for the Central Plaza Hotel, owners Corey Lynn Loghry and Carter Ward will receive the mural depicting the Angel of Courage.
"What they're doing here with this space and this building is phenomenal," Dean said. "It took a lot of courage, so it felt fitting to have the Angel of Courage go with Paris West."
Each mural will be catered to fit the business's aesthetic. As it stands, Crossfit Frontier will depict the Angel of Justice, Habitat for Humanity the Angel of Hope and VMAccel the Angel of Truth.
"Because they're so involved in tech, I thought the Angel of Truth was almost like a responsibility with technology," Dean said. "To be sure that you're standing on the side of truth."
Dean expects to get to work on the murals as soon as the weather improves, with a set schedule of murals solidified by the end of March. Hopefully, all murals will be completed by June, concluding with Habitat for Humanity.
Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.
