The Prairie Tillers Mural (1980 Original; 2004 Restoration)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

Designed to match a mural created by Caryl Yasko in 1980, this mural tells a story of Whitewater's founding with a celebratory artistic lens focussed on city founders. The mural was part of a 2004 project to recreate the original work of art that faded each year and had been lost by 1989 owing to the elements and the porous nature of its surface. The work presents themes of courage and perseverance along with the unique Kettle Moraine geography with its rolling hills and prairies. Below the mural is a hand-molded concrete retaining wall by Niki Glen. The concrete is embedded with pottery shards, farm implements, and locally found objects as well as Native American designs.

Images

The Prairie Tillers Mural in Winter

The Prairie Tillers Mural

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The Prairie Tillers Mural was originally painted in 1980 by Caryl Yasko, but owing to the porous nature of the surface and the elements, this work of art became less visible each year and was essentially lost by 1989. An extensive project in 2004 involved the creation of a replica in its original location to natch the original. The new mural was dedicated on September 26th of that year.

The original mural was painted on the exterior wall of the Furnace Building at 119 Center Street. That brick wall had been an interior wall of the former Whitewater City Hall. When the City Hall was razed in 1972, the interior wall became the exterior wall of the Furnace Building. Because the brick was extremely porous, the mural became less visible each year. In 2004, the Prairie Tillers Mural Repainting Project was initiated. The wall was cleaned, wire mesh was put in place to stabilize it and three coats of concrete/stucco were added to resurface the wall prior to repainting the mural. A re-dedication ceremony was held on September 26, 2004. The mural remains in good condition, and the Whitewater Art Alliance has a fund of $5000 to support its responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the Prairie Tillers Mural.

“The figures on the right side of the mural depict three time periods in history: the tribal era, the early settlers, and the people of the present. The figures on the left represent the future generations who will take and use what we have to continue the dream. These figures are unformed and undefined to remind viewers that the future can be shaped by us, by the decisions and choices we make today.

"The large circle in the center of the composition represents a millwheel. Early Whitewater settlers depended on water power to mill lumber, paper and grain. The first such mill built by Dr. James Trippe in 1839 was in continual use until 1963 and eventually razed in 1972. The wheel is painted with decorative symbols of Whitewater’s accomplishments in agriculture, education, tourism, retail business, manufacturing and milling. The Territorial Oak which still stands at the intersection of Franklin and Main Street forms the center of the waterwheel. That great Burr Oak is the tree from which Whitewater was originally surveyed.

"Other elements symbolize the land on which this town was built, the waving prairie from delicate spring to flaming autumn. Prairie violet, shooting stars, pasque flowers, blue lupine, prairie smoke, yellow coneflowers and prairie dock are some of the flowers depicted. The blazing colors of autumn merge into flames of the annual prairie burnings and the historic fires of Whitewater.” (Whitewater Arts Alliance and Caryl Yasko)

Sources

Barnett, Alan. Community Murals: The Peoples Art. Art Alliance Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1984.

Glen, Niki. Glenstudios.com/projects/prairie tillers.

Jefferson Daily Union Newspaper. Restored “Prairie Tillers” Mural. Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, September 8, 2014.

McDarison, Kim. Yasko Scheduled to Restore “Prairie Tillers” Mural. Whitewater Register, Whitewater, Wisconsin, August 5, 2004.

Royal Purple Newspaper. Whitewater Main Street Festival Supports One Final Cause. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Team Lightning Bugs. Prairie Tillers Mural, Whitewater, Wisconsin. Murals on Waymarking.com, September 28, 2008.

Whitewater Arts Alliance. Dedication Ceremony and Celebration Brochure. September 26, 2004.

Wisconsin Historical Markers: The Prairie Tillers Mural. www.wisconsinhistoricalmarkers.com.

Yasko, Caryl. “Fresco in Whitewater”. National Murals Network News, 1980.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

City of Whitewater