Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Artist adds another mural to visitor's center

Third mural portrays present-day history, energy efficiency

• By: Patrick Johnson  
• Published: 11/17/2009 2:31:44 PM

Photo By: Patrick JohnsonHistorical mural
Artist Hector Hernandez installs the third portion of his mural at the Clackamas County Visitor Information Center.

Another piece of Wilsonville’s history is now on display.

Local artist and teacher Hector Hernandez recently completed another mural for the inside of the Clackamas County Regional Visitor’s Center in Wilsonville’s Town Center Park. His latest work, framing the top of the walls around the main office area, focuses on the present. Hernandez, with the help of the Wilsonville Arts and Culture Council, now has completed three of four planned murals for the inside of the visitor center.

Last Thursday, Hernandez and members of the arts council worked to get the approximately 25-foot mural installed near the ceiling of the center’s main room.

“It is a great project,” Hernandez said as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face after getting the mural secured into position. “I have found a lot of inspiration from around the community.”

The latest mural focuses on renewable energy and the present. It features a picture of a Westside Express Service train, Wilsonville City Hall, solar panels, the sun, sunflowers, a hummingbird and the Western Meadowlark, Oregon’s state bird.

“I wanted to focus on sustainable energy and transportation for this mural,” Hernandez said. “I included the hummingbird because it uses a lot of energy, but uses it efficiently. The sunflower is there to show that there are things in nature that use the sun for energy and that’s why they are always pointing toward the sun. It’s also why they are near the sun and the solar panels. I wanted to show how our efforts are following nature.”

Hernandez said each of the murals represents a season, with the first mural representing the early days of Wilsonville and winter, the second mural representing the recent past and spring, the current mural representing the present and summer. Next year’s mural will represent fall and the future, he said.

Theonie Gilmore, president of the council, said her group fundraises during the year to pay for the mural – with money from different events. In the past she has received grants for the murals, and also hopes that businesses will make donations to help defer some of the costs of the project.

“It’s one of the projects we are funding through the money we raise from the arts festival,” Gilmore said. “This is one of two major projects we are doing – the other being the play, ‘A Ferry Tale.’”
Chamber officials said the murals cost about $2,500 each. They also loved the fact the artwork enhances the visitor center.

“Hector is an incredibly talented artist,” said Steve Gilmore, CEO of the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce, which is housed in the visitor’s center. “The variation of the color and the stories that each of the murals tells, really enhances the visitor’s center.”

  (log in to rate)