TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Jim Shepard is a Terre Haute native and ISU graduate, who has always been passionate about art.
He recently moved back to Terre Haute after working for Disney for many years.
Shepard said when he was approached by Arts Illiana and Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett about creating a mural to help revamp the downtown area, he was honored.
“This is something I could donate, more or less with my talents. Hopefully it’ll be here long after I’m gone. A little part of me. It represents Terre Haute and I love Terre Haute,” he said.
The mural resembles an old vintage postcard that says, “Greetings from Terre Haute,” and inside of each letter you’ll find different landmarks throughout the city.
It sits on the side of the Haute House Flats building on 7th Street in Terre Haute.
Shepard said it only took him seven days to complete the mural.
“They pretty much left it up to me for the design. The very first thing I thought of was this old postcard that I loved and had seen with the images of Terre Haute. So I found that and then I repurposed the images to update them a little bit. Then I painted them on the wall with acrylic paints,” he explained.
The vintage mural is just one of many to pop up across the city. Another mural of Stiffy Green was painted by Becky Hochhalter on the side of J Ford’s Black Angus on the corner of 7th and Walnut.
Sherri Wright, associate director for Arts Illiana, said highlighting local artists has a number of benefits.
“Using local artists is a wonderful way to showcase that we have so many wonderfully talented, professional artists here in our region,” she began.
Wright said she hopes it’ll give the community another thing to be proud of.
“People are excited and they know what it brings to a community to have art out there for people to see and experience. You don’t have to pay anything to see it. You just walk by and you stand and get your picture taken by it. It’s just a delightful way to like I said bring visitors and to make our residents have pride,” Wright concluded.
Arts Illiana plans to unveil another mural in the historic 12 Points neighborhood soon.
