Brighten Chippewa Trails: Fund Joe's Tunnel Mural

Dam!

Dam!

... if we aren’t making a mural spring 2025! Chippewa Valley Artist Joe Maurer and team design to brighten up the concrete pedestrian tunnel access to Mayo Hospital. Located just west of Phoenix Park at the 5th Ave tunnel on the Chippewa River Trail, the space is a threshold between Mayo Children’s

Theme: Dam builders of the Chippewa. Before we had dams on the Chippewa to power the local economy, we had a surplus of beavers to power ecology. Beavers, on the surface, are destructive in their seemingly ad hoc removal of river trees, but it turns out life benefits from the heterogeneous aquatic environs their dams create. Using a play of words and playful imagery of the river before the dam was built, the mural celebrates unique endemic life that has long existed in the Chippewa Valley and specifically in the river flood plain.

Timeline: starting this spring (May) and completed by the start of summer 2025.

Materials: special durable architectural mineral paint which is meant for concrete surfaces. It is a permeable, strong, and beautiful material. While expensive, its lifespan is proven to last 20 years. The tunnel will be a brighter and happier place.

Labor: The painting area is approximately 2000+ square feet through the 150-foot long tunnel. I anticipate 3 weeks of labor for 4-5 artisans. The surface prep alone is half the cost.

Match Funding ask: we have received initial seed funding from North Barstow Medical and Business Improvement District administered through DECI Eau Claire. My ask is to match the initial seed funding. I have full approvals from the Parks and Waterways Commission and Eau Claire City Council, but they are not able to provide funding. I am asking you, the community, to give whatever small donation you can to help this project come to fruition. Thank you for considering!

PRESS! https://volumeone.org/articles/2025/04/07/360666-funding-comes-through-for-new-public-art-piece