Port Washington mural among 5 US regional art pieces

PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. - Port Washington is now home to a mural, located on Franklin and Pier, that represents the Midwest region.

For the artists, one of the best parts was seeing their work on display.

With the pull of strings and help from the wind, Port Washington's newest mural was revealed Thursday, April 6 in its permanent home.

"It’s just so perfect," said Bridget Molitor. "I mean, there’s everything, such professional ones, and then just great ones from kids and personal ones."

Molitor's painting is the in the middle, toward the top, filling the red part of the tree.

"Mine is the juvenile pop one, in honor of Pete’s Pops," said Molitor.

The project was put on by Mural Mosaic. This is one of five regional art pieces in the country.

"COVID was a terrible thing that disconnected us, and we wanted to do something that could connect people again," said Lewis Lavoie, designer.

That connection came from artists who painted a tile and took a picture of it. Mural Mosaic turned it into a digital collection of all of the artists' work.

"Every painting is carefully placed in there," said Lavoie. "It’s all done by hand. It’s a very handmade mural."

Lavoie said the city was chosen because of its beauty and a lot of hard work from Port Washington Main Street Executive Director Kristina Tadeo.

"We’re just a great representative of the Midwest," said Tadeo.

Molitor said she doesn't consider herself an artist by trade.

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"I have a mom and sister that are artists, but I just love creative, beautiful things," said Molitor. 

Mural Mosaic says 1,500 people painted a tile. Of those, at least 281 tiles are painted by someone from Wisconsin.