People visit the mural in downtown Washington. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

If you have family visiting during the holiday weekend, remember to show them a certain alley in downtown Washington that has been transformed into artwork.

In November of 2015 the mural on the south side of the Washington Public Library was unveiled and director of the library Debbie Stanton says they still see traffic going to view the two-story tall painting. Stanton has observed pedestrians there admiring the artwork; she adds, “I’ve heard of a lot of people who have people in town visiting and they make sure to stop by and look at the mural. I know my sister came to town and my brother-in-law had never visited before and she was like, ‘Oh, you’ve got to see the mural!'”

The work was completed in partnership with the library and the University of Iowa’s Art Share program. Master of Fine Arts graduate Erin Rappleye created the design and painted the piece. She based it on the concept that people are shaped by the stories they read and it features nods to many literary classics, Stanton says, “So I think that’s the most fun part of it, people try to pick stuff out, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s the three little pigs!’ And no one is wrong, no one is right. She said she specifically did not make a list, because she said whatever people see, if they see a horse and they think of Black Beauty, that’s great. If they see a horse and think of Flicka, that’s great. I like watching people’s reaction to it, because they love to pick out pieces of it.” Stanton adds it’s interesting to see how many children stories grown adults remember and get excited about.

The mural is titled Bungaku No Katamari, which translates to “clump of literature.” I think I may see a giant peach, a truffula tree, and a hungry caterpillar, but what do you find?