Uncle Sam. Dan Rice, 1823-1900, made Girard the winter
home of his circus. Stories passed down through generations
tell that it was common for residents to hear the roar of a lion
or see Rice and his elephants walking down Rice Avenue to the
path that led to Elk Creek for water.
The mural also includes a depiction of Girard’s Civil War
monument, donated by Rice. It’s reportedly the first monument
in the U.S. dedicated to both soldiers who fought for the North
and the South in the Civil War. Local history buffs say President
Abraham Lincoln was scheduled to attend its dedication,
however, the ceremony occurred after his assassination.
To fund the Girard mural project, Miller worked with
Erie Arts and Culture to submit a grant application to the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and American Legion Post
494 in Girard served as fiscal sponsor for the project, managing
donations and reimbursing the artists for supplies.
Rick York of York Seaway donated the use of his building
to give the artists a place to work, and Ron and Sandy Platz
provided the artists with their “canvas,” a wall of their building
at the corner of Main and Myrtle.
The artists didn’t paint the mural directly onto the building,
but rather devised a grid from a prototype, and projected
sections onto more than 60 3x5-foot sections of Polytab
mural fabric.
Hamilton says when the panels were complete, the artists
watched the weather to find a few rain-free days to apply the
mural to the wall. It involved putting adhesive on the wall,
hanging the mural by numbered sections and then applying
varnish over it.
To learn more about the mural, visit the project’s Facebook
page: facebook.com/Our-Town-Mural-184748068887605. n
MILLCREEK
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SPRING 2020
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