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Art & Art History

Senior Project: Public Art

Mural commemorates Kenosha's automobile manufacturing history

For the students in Kimberly Greene's Art Studio Senior Seminar, a final paper just wasn't going to cut it. They had spent the semester researching artists whose work and presentation styles inspired them. They didn't want to wrap up the course — and four years at Carthage — with words.

So Prof. Greene challenged her students to create a work of art along the lines of the work that had inspired them the most. The result: A 100-by-15-foot mural in downtown Kenosha that celebrates the city's rich history in automobile manufacturing.

"There's something fun about doing something ephemeral. It plays into the idea that Nash was here 40 years and went away. AMC was here 30 years and went away. And Chrysler was here 20 years and now it's gone."

"Throughout the semester, we had done presentations on artists who inspired us, and they were all outside artists," explained Bryce Ulmer, '10, one of seven senior art students who worked on the mural. The students wanted to create "a commemorative montage of the past glory and the grim future of the auto industry in Kenosha," they wrote in their artist statement for the project.

The mural is on the back wall of the Rhode Center for the Arts, 514 56th St. It consists of hundreds of white ghosted cars surmounted by three large blue cars — a Nash Metropolitan, an AMC Pacer, and a Chrysler 300C — illustrating the three large independent automakers that were in Kenosha for almost a century: Nash Motor Company (1916-1954), American Motor Company (1954-1987) and Chrysler (1987-2010).

The students painted the mural on Friday, May 7, in time for Kenosha's Second Saturday event on May 8.

"We really wanted to do something unique, that could make an impact on the people of Kenosha," said Bryce, who is a Kenosha native. "We chose the automotive theme because of the announced closing of the Chrysler plant and the proximity of the site to the former Lakefront Manufacturing facility."

"The back side of the Rhode Center actually faces where the old Chrysler auto plant was, so they're literally at the site of the auto industry," said Prof. Greene.

The students used a light, watery mixture similar to sidewalk chalk to complete the mural. The medium allows the mural to be washed away by rains throughout the summer, adding an ephemeral element to the work.

"There's something fun about doing something ephemeral," Bryce said. "It plays into the idea that Nash was here 40 years and went away. AMC was here 30 years and went away. And Chrysler was here 20 years and now it's gone."

Senior Katie Lundgren, of Long Grove, Ill., said the mural could last just a few months, or a year. Already on Friday, she felt rewarded as an artist by the project.

"This is probably the best thing I've done at Carthage," she said. "We had a lot of people stop by to talk to us. We're interacting with the environment. We're getting involved. It's good to know you can reach out to other people."