SHOALS, Ind. – Students in Shoals High School’s Art Class are just about finished with painting this mural in Downtown Shoals.
Visitors and tourists are welcomed into historic shoals by a new mural.
The mural is being painted on the side of the back of a downtown building that overlooks Highway 50.
Sierra Rutledge, the town clerk, came to me and asked if I’d be willing to have my art class paint the mural,” said Shoals Art Teacher Reva Troutman.
The mural was designed by an inmate of the Martin County Jail. It features known landmarks from around Shoals like the courthouse and the infamous jug rock.
“There’s a bald eagle, which I am told that if you’re traveling down the White River, there are several eagle sightings,” said Martin County Alliance of Economic Development Executive Director Jessica Potts.
Work began on the mural started in April during the Jug Rox Make a Difference Day, the school’s community service day event.
“This year, one of our assignments was to paint a mural on this building so that people coming into Shoals can see what we’re about,” said Shoals High School Senior Eli Stoll.
Money for the project came from a grant, through Hoosier Uplands Economic Development, that was written by the Martin County Alliance for Economic Growth.
The mural is part of a bigger mission to revitalize downtown Shoals.
“Shoals is a little river community that has so much potential and this is just step one of some revitalizing for the area,” said Potts.
Students working on the mural say they’ve had a lot of comments and support from the community.
“There was a little girl that came up that was asking about what we were doing and Reva explained it to her,” said Shoals High School Junior Ikia Wright.
“There was also a guy driving by who decided to stop and donate to it too so that was pretty cool to see.”
Wright said she is happy people will get to enjoy this mural for generations to come.