Plans afoot to dress up more of floodwall

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, November 7, 2001

Nellie Caldwell of Vicksburg holds up a calendar containing examples of murals painted by artist Robert Dafford in Portsmouth, Ohio. Caldwell and Jimmy Heidel, chairman of the Vicksburg-Warren Chamber of Commerce, met with Vicksburg residents at City Hall Tuesday to discuss bringing Dafford to Vicksburg to paint murals along City Front. (The Vicksburg Post/C. TODD SHERMAN)

[11/07/01]More murals along the floodwall at City Front could be on the way under the direction of an artist who has done similar work in other river cities.

About 25 people attended the meeting Tuesday with the Vicksburg Mural Committee to bring ideas to the table about how to go about the proposed project. Committee chairman Nellie Caldwell said committee members hope to put additional illustrations along the wall where a city-sponsored painting was completed this spring.

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“I’m just a part of the people who want to see murals on the floodwall,” Caldwell said. “There’s just no limit to the ideas.”

Committee members are hoping to use Louisiana native Robert Dafford, who has painted historical illustrations along walls across the United States and in other countries.

Before the committee can act, it will have to cross two hurdles: funding and a decision on what the images will be.

“We’re just in the beginning stages and all of this has not been worked out,” Caldwell said.

Earlier this year, a committee selected a painting by Vicksburg artist Martha Ferris to go on one section of the wall. The $15,000 project was funded in part by a $7,500 grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Because that project was funded by a state grant, even if a new set of murals is put on the wall, that painting will remain.

While the exact method of selection for the new mural project has not been decided, projects such as a time line of the history of Vicksburg have been suggested.

Jimmy Heidel, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Foundation, said a historical mural project would tie in with other plans in the works for downtown development.

It “will give us one more draw to bring people downtown and that is key to economic revitalization,” Heidel said.

The floodwall runs parallel to the Yazoo Diversion Canal just west of downtown.

If Dafford is selected for the project, the murals will cost up to $15,000 each, depending on the size and detail of the painting. Caldwell said committee members are hoping to gain support from the community and sponsorship from area businesses or individuals.

North Ward Aldermen Gertrude Young said the city is willing to help solicit corporate sponsorship.

“The Board (of Mayor and Aldermen) has already been asking for sponsorship and we have gotten some commitments,” Young said.

Caldwell said that because the project would consist of various murals, Dafford had suggested setting each section apart by frames or arches. She said the committee hopes to begin the first mural in April.

Another concern that will be addressed as the project moves further along will be maintenance of the murals. One suggestion was to sell reproductions of the mural to fund the maintenance cost.

In one city where Dafford’s work is on display, a committee sells calenders with photos of the mural and the revenue goes toward maintenance, Caldwell said.