Highland’s mural shows ‘flight into the future’
The long-awaited mural at the Weinheimer Community Center is finished, displaying Highland’s history in a new way.
“We’re very excited about it,” said Lynnette Schuepbach, president of the Highland Arts Council and coordinator of the mural project. “He worked so hard to get the history of Highland into the artwork ... we couldn’t be more pleased.”
Artists Robert and Liza Fishbone of On the Wall Productions were assisted by Andy Cross — a set painter for the St. Louis Many Opera — and artists Lisa Roth and Deborah Moellering.
The mural shows a colored ribbon winding through images of Highland’s history, which Schuepbach said represents the flow of energy from people coming into Highland and then exploding into the future.
A street sign in one scene shows Highland at one side and Sursee, Switzerland, on the other, with a third sign for New Orleans. Schuepbach said Sursee is Highland’s sister city due to the initial Swiss immigrants who founded the city, and that the bulk of immigrants following them came via New Orleans rather than the more difficult Great Lakes route. Highland’s original name was New Switzerland when founded in 1831, but was platted as Highland in 1837.
There is a cutout in front of the mural depicting F.W. Weinheimer, the man who donated $150,000 to Highland to fund the Weinheimer building in 1947 so the city would have a recreation and community center. Initially a rollerskating venue, Weinheimer is depicted from his original photograph and wearing “old-time roller-skates,” Schuepbach said, and is explaining the history of Highland to modern children wearing modern gear.
Other icons from Highland’s history include the original schoolhouse that doubled as a church, the bell tower atop the first City Hall, the Schott Brewery that operated for 100 years, and several other images representing Highland agriculture, industry, transportation and culture — even the UFO reportedly sighted above Highland in 2000.
“I think it really adds to the building, especially the way (the artist) used the architecture of the building to create interest across the wall,” Schuepbach said.
‘Truly is a community project’
The mural was completed during Art in the Park in the fall, but the development of the site is ongoing. Boy Scout Jonathan Pierce of Troop 8040 plans to build flower boxes for his Eagle Scout project, and the Arts Council continues to sell engraved bricks for the landscaping below the mural to complete its fundraising.
The initial $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts was matched by donations, and the council has also received grants from the Bayer Rural Fund Community Arts Program with the Arts and Education Council and donations of labor and in-kind materials from the city of Highland and Korte & Luitjohan Construction.
“It truly is a community project,” Schuepbach said.
Anyone interested in donating or purchasing a brick at the base of the mural should go to the Highland Arts Council website at highlandartscouncil.org or email lynnette@highlandartscouncil.org.
