The City of Fort Morgan, Colo., in June held an unveiling celebration for its new community mural mosaic on the north wall of the Fort Morgan Fire Station.
The 12x24 foot mural is one of hundreds created in local communities around the world in collaboration with Mural Mosaic, an organization that engages participating communities in the process of painting a mosaic tile representing their connection to community, country, family, and the world.
Mural Mosaic is a process invented by artist Lewis Lavoie that takes individual paintings and places them in a specific order to create a large painting.
Lavoie pre-prepares small panels with color tones and shapes, then individual artists use the color guidelines on each panel as inspiration to create a small panel painting using their own style. Completed tiles are collected digitally, then Mural Mosaic artist and design teams work their magic. When all of the completed tiles are placed in order, an image of a tree emerges, representing both the contributions of individual participants and the collective group – a true reflection of unity through diversity.
Local artist Ann lungerich was contacted by Mural Mosaic about a potential project for Fort Morgan. Nine tile-painting events were held this spring where approximately 180 area residents of all ages and skill levels put their personal touches on the project by painting about 200 of the 6”x6” tiles.