Cook County High School art teacher Mila Horak displays the most recent mural that now adorns the outside wall of Birchbark Books and Gifts. Horak is the brains and artistic talent behind the murals that are in the midst of telling a story about our past here in the county. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
From the first mural to the addition of the new mural of the Grand Marais harbor lighthouse placed on the north outside wall of Birchbark Books & Gifts on Sunday, July 29, the theme continues on about our place in nature.
Plans are to build a mural every summer until the wall is eventually covered. Funding came from a $300 grant from the Grand Marais Art Colony with the bulk of the project dollars coming from the Great Place Project.
In its fifth year, The Great Place Project is a collaborative effort of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s Moving Matters and the Cook County Chamber of Commerce.
Once again Cook County High School art teacher Mila Horak designed the mural, numbering the areas to be painted by volunteers. This year Horak said about 160 volunteers, many of them young, came to sessions to help paint the panels that make up the large mural.
“Occasionally someone puts paint where it’s not called for, but that’s okay,” said a smiling Horak. “We just modify it and it works out.
“I want to again thank Jim Boyd for all that he has done to make this project possible,” added Horak.
Boyd is the director of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce and a great advocate of the Great Place Project.
When seeking proposals to award grants in 2018, Boyd pointed out, “We want to invest in projects with sufficient ‘pop’ that they cause people to stop for a longer look. Two examples of that are the outdoor ping pong table in front of the Grand Marais Library, proposed by Ann Possis in 2016, and the mural on the alley side of Birchbark Books & Gifts, proposed, organized and created by Mila Horak with the help of a multitude.”
Check out the new mural at Birch Bark Books & Gifts. It meets every criteria Jim Boyd was hoping for.
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