On November 19th, Cape Girardeau’s newest riverfront mural was officially presented to the public. Coming just in time for the holidays, the new mural can be seen by drivers and riverboats alike bearing the greeting “Welcome to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.”
KRCU attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony and spoke with two people who worked on the mural. According to Calvin Gilmore, a painter who worked on the mural, Craig Thomas was “the mastermind” behind the mural.
“Craig came through, he detailed everything out. He’s pretty much the mastermind behind it all. But man, he’s one of the best in the country."
Thomas spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with Danny Essner of Old Town Cape and Mayor Bob Fox. During his speech, Thomas touched on many of the landmarks present in the piece. When asked about the mural’s style, Thomas had this to say:
“This type of mural is a classic postcard mural, where you put images from the landmarks in the area or events in the area in each letter.”
When the painters began the mural, the heat was an issue for them, however by the time they finished, the first frost had long since passed.
“It’s taken a little over two months. When we started it was a little over 100 degrees, and now it's freezing at night. I’m glad we got it done on time, and that the river didn’t get too high.”
When asked about the community support he received with the mural, Thomas felt that he had received adequate support from the city.
“Both in-town people and a lot of tourists that come down to the river have been very supportive. And of course, Old Town Cape –who brought this to the wall– and the City of Cape, they were the two main supporters.”
The mural is located on the river walk in downtown Cape Girardeau. For more information on the mural, or future projects like this one, visit the Old Town Cape website.