News Bits: New library mural, century

Aug 06, 2023

Isaac Campbell, an Iowa street artist who’s made a name for himself by using an ancient art medium to add poignancy to his murals that convey human stories, is coming to Burlington Public Library, 210 Court St., on Monday.

Everyone is invited to don their painting clothes to help the Ottumwa native install an outside mural done with wheat paste on the east-facing retaining wall that runs along the downward-sloping entryway to the building.

Prep work will start at about noon and the installation is planned to begin at 3 p.m.

“Bring a hat, bottle of water and a story or two to share of why you love the library,” said Library Director Brittany Jacobs.

“Our mural will tell the library’s story and showcase how our mission has been realized throughout the years with traditional services, hands-on learning and so much more. This mural will spark conversations, wonder and joy and will be a stunning visual testament to the rich history and bright future of the Burlington Public Library,” said Jacobs.

To create a mural, Campbell spreads a paste made of flour, sugar and water, on the side of a building. Helped by volunteers, he spreads a piece of a printed photo over the paste and then the image is covered with a layer of paste.

Campbell, a UNI graduate with a Master of Arts degree who spent time in Hungary as a Fulbright Scholar, has been awarded numerous local, state, and federal grants for his wheat paste murals that promote social justice and worthy causes.

He designed the Bring Our Families Home mural, faces of 18 American citizens detained or held hostage in foreign countries, in Washington, D.C.

Part of the murals’ inspiration comes from their eventual deterioration.

“(The library’s mural) will fade over time and we will power wash it to remove the final bits. These murals typically last 8-10 months depending on the weather,” said Jacobs.

In Honduras, Campbell installed a mural of Franciscan nun, Sister Marie Rosa Leggol. Before dying of Covid, Leggol, through her different programs saved 87,000 Honduran children from starvation, violence, teen pregnancy, the sex trade, and drug trafficking. Campbell installed a mural on the wall of a prison where she rescued her first children.

Residents took pride in the image, but then the mural’s inevitable deterioration came, upsetting locals and spurring them to take action, to ensure Leggol’s legacy was more permanent than the artwork.

Most recently, Campbell added bicycle-themed wheat paste images to RAGBRAI overnight communities throughout the week.

The RAGBRAI photos all were chosen by community historians, archivists and librarians.

This will be the library’s first foray into public art on the building, and it may be the start of more permanent, or non-permanent murals there, according to Jacobs.

“Working with Brittany has been an absolute joy. She has such a passion for building community and a vibrant vision for the future of the Burlington Public Library. I hope that this mural will aid her in her vision and cultivate more opportunities for artists in the future,” said Campbell.

The first step for BPL’s mural was finding photos.

“While digging through the library photo archives, Brittany and I found a lot of wonderful construction images of the current library; this became one of the themes that is explored in the mural,” he said.

“Communities build public libraries, and public libraries build communities — seeing the photos of Burlington building their library, and in working with Brittany, learning what the library has done and continues to do for Burlington, it’s clear just how important protecting and supporting the Burlington Public Library is now and will be in the future,” he added.

To view murals by Campbell, visit isaacampbell.com

In June, Colton Neely, executive director of the Des Moines County Historical Society, in his Out of the Collection column, put out a call for theories as to why two 113-year-old wedding cake slices, one chocolate, and one vanilla, survived the years, and received several responses.

Donated in 1975, the object in the DMC Heritage Museum’s collection measures about four and 3/4 inches long, two inches wide, and one and a fourth inches deep in white, silk-covered card stock boxes.

“The texture is similar to sponge candy without the hard chocolate coating, and yes, it still faintly smells like wedding cake,” said Neely.

According to Neely, staff and board members pondered the question, “How did it last this long? Is there a preservative that inhibits decomposition, like leaded baking sugar? Or was the pantry too dry and caused the cake to mummify?”

In a July newsletter update, Neely provided new information that had come forth. Fascinated by the story, I was anticipating the responses.

“Luckily, a patron, Judy Hulse, visited the museum and introduced herself to me as the granddaughter of Francis William Brooks and Hester McConnell. If you recall, those are the initials on both slices of the wedding cake,” said Neely.

“Their residence was at 1015 N. 6th Street in Burlington, near Mosquito Park. Judy clarified that the piece of cake was indeed between the years of 1910 and 1913 and most likely petrified from the flour and sugar not being able to disintegrate,” he added.

Cyndy Fabel, another museum patron, “had a similar theory on how sugar can preserve bakery goods into something similar to sponge candy,” he said.

“We are not sure how it landed in our possession, but rumor has it that when we acquired the Garrett-Phelps House, the cake had been stored in the back of the pantry closet and was forgotten by the family,” he said.

When volunteers were inventorying the contents of house, they decided they might as well inventory the wedding cake slices as well.

Another long-stored wedding cake was less like something that might chip your tooth and more like something horrible out of the back of the freezer.

Some media outlets in 2019 reported that Anne and David Cowburn of West Grove, Pennsylvania, marked each passing anniversary in July by eating a tiny piece of their original vanilla wedding cake, baked in 1970. This cake, of course, was about 60 years younger than the aforementioned, and was kept frozen.

The taste, David told Today, is “Something between cardboard or lighter fluid. It doesn’t taste anything like cake at this point.”

“For maybe 10 years it tasted like a cake — maybe a cake that was freezer burned. But now it doesn’t really taste like anything, just kind of chemical-ly,” Anne added.

First Presbyterian Church at Fifth and Washington streets will distribute free food bags during two upcoming Jefferson Street Farmers Markets.

Distribution will take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Aug. 17 and Sept. 21.

Volunteers will be out in front of the church during those times with the food bags, which are first-come, first-served.

Burlington Riverfront Entertainment has re-imagined the former Taste of Burlington event.

BRE is calling for restaurants to sign up to share their talents at Kitchen Classic planned for 1-5 p.m. Nov. 4 at Memorial Auditorium.

The tasting experience will be coupled with live-action demonstrations. Patrons will sample delicious features while learning behind-the-scenes cooking tips from area chefs, live on stage.

Vendor booths are $75.

To learn more, email [email protected] or call (319) 753-8111 ext. 5.

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