Community Members Invited to Help Paint Mural

The City of Grinnell is partnering with local artist Jocelyn Squier to bring new life to the bike trail underpass between West Side Family Restaurant and Iowa Valley Community College. Constructed in 2015, the underpass tunnel was the final piece of a bike trail linking Arbor Lake to Rock Creek State Park. In the years since its construction, this underpass has consistently been used by dozens of people each day. Despite frequent usage, it has long been a site for graffiti and vandalism.

Squier aims to make the underpass more inviting to locals and visitors and highlight local plant life with a mural covering both walls. Community members will be invited to participate.

Squier will prepare the tunnel walls and paint outlines of native wildflowers over the week of September 28 to October 4, inspired by the native plantings added during the recent Hazel Creek restoration and stormwater improvements. The following weekend, community members are invited to help complete the mural in a paint-by-number style.

Community painting hours are as follows:

• Saturday, October 4, 10 am - 2 pm
• Sunday, October 5, 1 pm - 5 pm

Brushes and paint will be provided, and community members are invited to help for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The event is free and open to the public, ages 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult.