About 150 members of the Centralia community collaborated on a community mural during Founder’s Day weekend to celebrate the city’s 150th birthday.
The mural, designed by muralist Matthew Anthony, is a large-scale rendition of a watercolor image featuring a look at Centralia’s downtown corridor from Tower Avenue and includes the Hub City moniker in front of a wheel in the center of the painting.
From Aug. 8 through Aug. 10, community members helped paint color blocks on the wall of the building at 203 N. Tower Ave. across from Pine Street Plaza. Anthony said the age range of painters included people 2 and 3 years of age to 86 years old.
“We had right at 150 people that came out, which is neat because it’s the 150th anniversary,” Anthony said. “It was a really fun weekend of people getting to experience something new and be a part of the community and make an impact that will last for ages. Actually, people have already come back out and shown their neighbors and been like, ‘That’s where I painted.’”
Over the weekend, Anthony helped participants with painting techniques. Each participant received a sticker that says “I painted downtown Centralia” and a postcard featuring the image they helped paint.
Hallie Ralls, Centralia Downtown Association board president, said the project is a special way to honor the past 150 years of Centralia while looking forward to the next 150 years.
“It was a really special community project for all ages. Matthew did such a great job designing it. We’re always pleased to work with him on these creative projects,” she said, adding that this may be the first mural painted by the community in Centralia. “I hope that it’s something that people can feel invested in. I hope my daughters can say, ‘Look, I painted this piece 50 years ago,’ when they’re walking downtown with their kids or grandkids. We always look for ways to help Centralians love Centralia.”
Anthony is currently putting the finishing touches on the mural, doing cleanup work on the wall and filling in empty spaces. He will eventually place anti-graffiti sealant and estimates that the final product will be done in about a week.
