Artwork by Julie Mader

Embracing Pennsylvania with brush and pen
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Public Art - Murals
 
"Community" Mural  2010
  Ridgway, Pennsylvania
     
St. Leo's School in Ridgway, PA had a lovely playground and the kids to go with it - but they also had a backdrop for the play scene that wasn't exactly inspirational for playtime.
 
Town resident, Heather Mader had a vision to bring additional zip to the playground and through her dedication to the project she secured a design team, a grant from the PA Council on the Arts and an artist (yours truly) who was up to the challenge in 2010. 
 
                                   
                                                    
 
 
          
  
 
 
Everyone loves trees - they offer protection from the hot sun and a summer rain storm, they are
a home for birds and small creatures, they are beautiful and you can climb them... what could be better to stir the imagination of a child at the library? 
 
Hamlin Memorial Library "Roots and Wings" Mural      2009
Smethport, Pennsylvania
 
When I was asked to come up with an idea for a mural in the Children's Wing of the library I started coming up with ideas based on non-fiction subjects since the painting would be near the large wall of juvenille non-fiction books: the painting also needed to recognize the Robert Digel Family, who offers the library signifcant monetary support.   I wanted to come up with something combing a variety of topics and offer the young patrons something to make them stop and take a deeper look, sparking them to discover hidden objects in the mural.  The final mural design accomplished all of the library board's goals while quietly acknowledging the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Digel and his favorite hunting dog. 
 
The Roots and Wings mural has become a wonderful asset to the library since it was completed in Fall 2009.  The bold design reproduces well and has been utilized by the library on bookplates, T-shirts and posters. 
 
 
 
"Roots and Wings"                               
© Julie Mader 2009
 
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Hamlin Memorial Library "Service Area" Mural      2009
Smethport, Pennsylvania
 
       
mural detail                                                                                                              view from the library's lobby area
 
 
"Service Area"  completed August 2009
© Julie Mader 2009
 
 The "Service Area" mural  at the Hamlin Memorial Library in Smethport, PA was made possible thru a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.        
 
The Hamlin Memorial Library Board of Directors discussed with me that something really special was needed for the large meeting room in the new wing of the library and they were open to my ideas. I concluded that I wanted the  mural to serve many finctions, offering a chance to educate viewers about our region of PA as well as provide a lovely backdrop for the meeting room. 
 
The result of the board's request was manifested as a 6' x 13' mural of an open atlas.  The "pages" of the book highlights many important landmarks of McKean County, a street map of Smethport, a County map, information about the library's history and the PA state flower and tree.  Five digital photo frames were incorporated into the "atlas" design to provide a scrolling display of photos of the beauty of the county, a glimpse at its industry, and insight into area events and library programing. 
 

     You are invited and encouraged to visit Smethport, PA and see the Hamlin Memeorial Library murals in person.  Please visit www.hamlinlibrary.org for the library's hours of operation.