With her extraordinary gifts of talent and time, NWS volunteer Alison Whitney has completed a stunning new mural inside the Visitors Center at Newport State Park.
What is most remarkable about the project is that this is Whitney’s first mural. NWS funded the costs of paint and materials, but Alison donated over 200 hours of her time to design and complete the mural.
The workspace was cleared of its original exhibit, walls were primed, and Alison sketched in her initial ideas on February 14. Over the following two months the depiction of boreal forest, escarpment geology, and forest trail filtered through morning sunlight evolved. Alison signed it on April 22nd and naturalist Beth Bartoli reinstalled some of the park fauna which had been previously exhibited in the space.
Whitney and NWS board member Deb Ford photo-documented the process of creating the mural. A collection of Ford’s and Whitney’s photos can be viewed here: https://www.deborahford.photography/Newport-State-Park/Newport-Visitors-Center-Mural/
Before planning to visit the mural, please call the Newport park office for current Visitors Center hours: 920-854-2500.
Alison graciously allowed Deb Ford to photo-document the process of creating the mural
(and contributed many end-of-workday photos of her own).
For anyone interested in a more detailed photo-documentation of the project, go here.
