Storm Lake considers mosaic murals to beautify public spaces, attract visitors

Artist Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo of Zacatlan, Mexico, talks about a tile mosaic depicting Storm Lake she helped create. In addition to the Storm Lake mosaic, which is on display at Witter Gallery, a mosaic depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe has been placed in St. Mary's Catholic Church and one depicting Storm Lake Times Pilot editor Art Cullen also is on display at the gallery.

Artist Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo of Zacatlan, Mexico, shows the intricate detail of a tile mosaic of Storm Lake she helped create. The Witter Gallery, as well as other city leaders, hope to team with Olvera Trejo and her artists to cover building walls throughout Storm Lake with large tile mosaics to beautify the city and attract visitors.

Artists Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo, left, and Gael Carcia of Zacatlan, Mexico, stand with a tile mosaic created in Mexico and depicting Storm Lake. The two also were involved in the creation of a mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe for St. Mary's Catholic Church in Storm Lake.

STORM LAKE, Iowa — During her two visits to Storm Lake, Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo has taken thousands of photos, enjoyed the beauty of the city's namesake lake and seen much of what the city has to offer.

The features she pays the most attention to? Blank walls on buildings throughout town.

Everyone else may see bricks and mortar or concrete, but Olvera Trejo sees spaces perfect for covering with thousands of colorful clay tiles forming large mosaic murals.

World-renowned for her mosaics, Olvera Trejo and Storm Lake art supporters are in the early stages of a public art project that would turn buildings here into elaborate works of art.

"Every time she speaks to a different group of people, her light shines through and more people want to be a part of this," said Julie Steinfeld, board president of Storm Lake's Witter Gallery. "To have this kind of opportunity here, I hope we take advantage of it."

To see the potential, just google Zacatlan, Mexico, where Olvera Trejo and a group of artists are continually covering buildings, retaining walls and other public spaces with amazing mosaics. The ever-increasing number of murals attracts visitors from across the world, creating business and economic opportunities for the city's residents while at the same time beautifying it.

She believes the same thing could happen in Storm Lake.

"This project is going to change life like in Zacatlan," Olvera Trejo said. "It's exciting for me to make more murals for Storm Lake."

It's a project that happened entirely by chance, aided by a California retiree who stopped by the public library because he doesn't own a cell phone.

Dick Davis, a retired stockbroker and public art supporter, has known Olvera Trejo for several years. He was driving from California with several examples of her mosaic art to a convention in Chicago late last spring when he stopped in Storm Lake to meet Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen. Because he has no cell phone, Davis stopped at the public library to access the internet. Patricia Hampton, then the Witter Gallery's board president, just happened to be exiting the adjoining art gallery and ran into Davis.

To make a long story short, that accidental meeting became a two and a half hour conversation in which Davis introduced Hampton to Olvera Trejo's work and put them in touch. By September, Olvera Trejo was in Storm Lake, assembling a 3-foot-by-5-foot mosaic featuring Storm Lake's welcome sign and the lake at sunset that she designed using photos Hampton sent her. The mural is on display at the gallery, as well as a smaller one of Cullen that Davis requested.

The art gallery board had wanted to gift a painted building mural to the city, Steinfeld said. Olvera Trejo's work inspired them to dream bigger.

"This mosaic mural was something a step above, something a little bit different," Steinfeld said.

The board approached the city council for financial support to fund more murals. The city budgeted $10,000, and Davis kicked in $10,000, too. Interest in the murals has spread to several building and business owners in town.

"Everyone loves them," Steinfeld said. "The response was amazing last fall."

Backers envision murals celebrating Storm Lake's diversity adorning buildings throughout the city. Steinfeld said the project's growth will be limited only by the amount of funding the gallery board can raise.

In the meantime, Olvera Trejo this week wrapped up her latest visit in which she and artist Gael Garcia assembled and installed a mural of Our Lade of Guadalupe at St. Mary's Catholic Church. The mosaic was dedicated Sunday, another example of the intricate designs possible with hand-cut tiles expertly placed and sealed with grout by skilled artists.

More murals are on the way. Though the sites can't be publicly announced just yet, Olvera Trejo will return to Storm Lake in September with another mural. She has another trip planned for next spring.

In Zacatlan, residents are often offered the chance to place a tile in the mosaic during its installation. Olvera Trejo said it allows everyone to become part of the process and injects the community's soul into the art. She hopes to offer Storm Lake residents the same chance when she and other Mexican artists return with new murals and also teach local artists how to create the mosaics so they, too, can become involved.

"This is not just for me, it's a piece of art for the community," she said. "This is not my project. It's the people, all of the people of Storm Lake."

Anyone will be welcome to participate. If you have a blank wall, all the better.

Artist Mary Carmen Olvera Trejo talks about the energy she and her fellow artists infuse into their tile mosaic murals. Artists from Zacatlan, Mexico, have created three murals that are in Storm Lake and hope to create more for display in outdoor spaces in the city.

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Court Reporter

Hytrek has been at the Journal since 1998, covering courts for much of that time. He is a Nebraska native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate.

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