Student artists paint mural in Kutztown
Mural adds beauty, meaning to downtown commercial district
Art students from Kutztown University and Kutztown High School put a bit of themselves and local color into a new mural in Kutztown’s commercial district.
“Public art should be site specific,” said Mike Miller, a Wyomissing School District art teacher and wellknown local muralist who helped coordinate the project. “It should reflect the community.”
Miller spent months planning and designing the mural with university students in Dr. Amy Pfeiler-Wunder’s Art in Alternative Settings class. The finishing touches were applied Sunday, April 25, on a rear wall of the building at 218 W. Main St., along Sander Alley.
The red-, blue- and yellow-painted flowers were inspired by Pennsylvania Dutch fraktur art, which connects to Kutztown’s background, Miller said, but a closer look reveals more connections.
Painted petals and stems take the shapes of the iconic clock tower atop Kutztown University’s Old Main. There’s a book representing knowledge and artists’ tools, such as pencils and brushes. Seeds blowing from a hex-sign-like dandelion, representing the knowledge acquired at the university spreading out into the world, he said. Bicycle gears, handle bars and a tire reflect the former bike shop where the Bagel Bar, 214 W. Main St. got its start.
The idea for a mural started with Christine Kreischer, owner of the bagel shop.
“I live in Wyomissing and walk around West Reading looking at the murals, especially on Cherry Street,” she said.
There are similarities between the street in West Reading and Sander Alley in Kutztown, Miller said. Both are heavily traveled by pedestrians, making them ideal for artwork that engages walkers.
Kreischer reached out to the owner of the neighboring building. After securing permission to use the wall as a blank canvas, she contacted Meggan Kerber, executive director of the Berks Arts Council. Kerber put her in touch with Miller and they pulled in Sandy Green, former mayor of Kutztown and vice president of the Kutztown Community Partnership, an organization dedicated to economic revitalization in the borough.
Miller, a Kutztown alumnus, reached out to the university’s art department.
The project was a perfect fit for her class, PfeilerWunder said.
“We’re introducing students to the range of ways
art functions in a variety of spaces and places,” she said. “We’re equipping them to think about art education in a myriad of setting and how art functions out in the world and how they can be a part of that.”
Miller asked the students to brainstorm ideas about what they envisioned for the mural and make sketches. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, they met over Zoom, discussing the scope of work and coming
up with a cohesive idea that incorporates elements of several students’ sketches.
“Mike Miller guided the project, but let the students express their creativity,” Bethany Sherman said.
A sophomore majoring in art education, Sherman, 20, of Newport, Perry County, said she appreciated the chance to have input into the design.
“I definitely learned a lot,” she said. “Murals are very interesting to me and I
want to become involved in more community projects.”
Abby Chua, 22, of Macungie, a Kutztown University senior with a dual major in art education and fine arts also worked on the painting.
Chua said the mural project gave her an opportunity to network with other artists, particularly those in the art education field.
“Being able to talk to other artists was really helpful,” she said. “Mike
Miller had a lot of resources and insight for me.”
Kreischer said the completed work is just the first of what she hopes will be many more murals in Kutztown.
Plans are already underway for five or six others at different locations in the borough, she said. Design ideas include pretzel art and a tribute to Keith Haring, an American pop artist and native of Kutztown who died in 1990.