Suzie Haffer and Keli Pontious of a Touch of Color in Steelville help out with mural maintenance.
Cuba, Missouri
When a mural is painted, that is only half the job.
Mural maintenance is ongoing. There is always something that needs a touchup of paint. Problems develop and have to be addressed. The Viva Cuba Project works with our mural artists to keep the murals in good shape. It is necessary to coordinate mural maintenance with the artists and work out a schedule for maintenance.
Lights burn out or lighting has to be installed so that the murals can project their beauty during hours of darkness.
Workers take advantage of the shade while installing lights above the Civil War murals.
Trash has to be picked up so that the sites will stay attractive. The whole Viva Cuba team stops and picks up trash when they see it. Gene Beyers is a treasure when it comes to keeping the Viva Cuba Garden groomed to perfection, and he sometimes makes a sweep of all the murals to see that everything is neat and trim. At times he is on the front line in trying to convince people that they shouldn’t post yard sale signs in the Viva Cuba Garden because of the underground water lines.
Gene Beyers and volunteer George Reed collecting trash during the 2009 Trash Bash. They were just two of the many volunteers who came out to lend a hand.
Viva Cuba maintains funds for maintenance and coordinates mural care and preservation. This July a crew of three painters took to ladders to scrape off the old, fill holes, prime surfaces, and, finally, to try to match colors that may have faded from the original. Weather and mositure take their toll on the murals.
Two of the painters, Suzie Haffer and Keli Pontious of the Steelville company A Touch of Color usually paint interiors using faux techniques. But for this project, they worked under the guidance of one of Cuba’s own mural artists Shelly Smith Steiger to repair and re-paint murals.
When you see a mural that needs repair, be assured that we are aware of it and are working to get it done. We also try to monitor the lighting on the murals and try to improve and maintain it. Please excuse our mess and travel with care around our workers and public art.
Cuba artist Shelly Smith Steiger was the original artist, along with Julie Balogh Brand, on the Amelia Earhart mural. Here she is involved in maintenance of the mural.
Bob Whitesitt of Kirkwood, MO and an assistant returned to Cuba to do some mural maintenance on the Al West Sr. mural.
See www.cubamomurals.com for beautification projects in Cuba, Missouri.
Although restoration and maintenance are not finished for 2009, Viva Cuba has now spent in the area of $10,000 this year on repair, restoration, and protective coating for the murals. LIghting all the murals at night is an ongoing goal.