Painted windows representing the Special Olympics, the school season, the fall season and Oktoberfest painted by Mandi Coffey adorn the front of the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
Painted windows representing homeless animals on the lefthand side and a local person’s Pomeranian who recently passed at the age of 14 was painted by Trina Roark on the doors to the children’s section of the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.
Chey Smith | The Tribune
Mandi Coffey, a local artist, standing in front of a window painting she did, representing a story about some people’s children with autism and the autistic spectrum, on the front doors of the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.
Submitted photo
Local artist Trina Roark stands beside a window she painted, representing the first train robbery in Rockford, inside the Jackson County Public Library in Seymour.
Submitted photo
Tori Reed, a local artist and senior at Crothersville Community School, beside windows she painted that represent first responders outside of the Crothersville library.
Submitted photo
Local hobbyist artist Kaitlyn McMahon painted windows at the Medora library.
Submitted photo
Local artists and those with a story to tell are invited to apply for a Jackson County Public Library program — The Painted Story of our Community.
In this program, Jackson County residents can submit stories for artists to represent by painting on the windows at the Seymour, Medora and Crothersville libraries.
Stephanie Sluder, the youth services manager at JCPL who is nearing her 10th year of working at the library, applied for a $4,000 grant through the Indiana Arts Commission for this project earlier in the year.
It was the first grant she has applied for and due to the project’s heavy focus on the community, it wasn’t surprising she received the grant.
“They (the Indiana Arts Commission) were very favorable of ours because of the community involvement, both in the artists and the stories,” Julia Aker said. “We knew she would get it because some of the others didn’t have any kind of component like that.”
Thanks to the grant, the library is able to pay each artist $250 to paint, a total of 16 artists being hired and compensated. To qualify, artists must be ages 14 or older.
Submissions for stories and painting requests are not limited by age, as long as they are from Jackson County. The submissions can be about personal stories of loved ones and experiences or general ideas to uplift members of the community, activities, cultures and more.
Along with the Indiana Arts Commission, activities related to the window paintings also were made possible in part by the Columbus Area Arts Council. Both organizations receive support from the state of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For this fall season, four artists have been able to represent multiple submissions, including the Special Olympics, the autistic spectrum, a dog who recently passed away, homeless animals, the first train robbery in Rockford, Oktoberfest and those who help the community. Bus drivers, teachers, farmers and fire responders also were represented.
One of the submitters wrote that their son with autism, “recognizes that he is different from other kids and sometimes struggles in social situations. Sports and socializing in general can be tough for him. I think it would be great to show that even though our brains may be a little different, that’s okay. Being different is beautiful and everyone is different in their own way.”
Artists ranged from hobbyists such as Trina Roark and Kaitlyn McMahon to those with art school backgrounds like Mandi Coffey. Tori Reed, a senior at Crothersville Community School, also joined in on the painting, running a small creative business of her own.
The JCPL are accepting new artists and stories to paint across the libraries for the upcoming winter, spring and summer seasons. All of these paintings are leading up to the JCPL’s summer learning program theme for next year, Color Our World.
If you have an idea or story you want painted, visit Seymour, Medora or Crothersville library locations or go to this link to fill out the application form.
If you want to paint the windows at the libraries, visit one of the three libraries or go to this link to fill out the application form.