Matteson’s Lincoln Highway mural unveiled
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY slafferty@southtownstar.com December 24, 2012 2:24PM
The village of Matteson on Saturday unveiled and dedicated its Lincoln Highway mural. It is the 30th mural to be installed by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition along the historic route, and the seventh in the Southland. | Supplied photo
Maps
Updated: January 26, 2013 6:09AM
Matteson on Saturday unveiled and dedicated its Lincoln Highway mural at 3627 W. 216th St.
It is the 30th mural to be installed by the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition along the historic route and the seventh in the Southland.
About 50 people attended the event, Chicago Southland Convention & Visitors Bureau spokesman Scott Bort said.
The Matteson mural is unique because it’s displayed on the actual building that appears in the painting — the Mahler service station — and it has a three-dimensional element, as it represents a page from a bound photo album.
The detailed mural highlights the Mahler family’s auto garage that has served Matteson for nearly 100 years.
As transportation increased along the Lincoln Highway, so did the need for roadside assistance and automobile repair. The family business was there to meet the needs of the increasingly mobile public, an essential element in the growth of Matteson, according to Sue Hronik, of the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition.
These large-scale works of public art can be found along the 179-mile Illinois byway corridor in more than two dozen communities.
Each community receiving a mural designates a representative to work with the coalition on the project, as well as a building site for the mural, researching the stories and images that link their community to Lincoln Highway and agreeing to provide maintenance and preservation of the mural.
All the murals were hand painted by artist Jay Allen, owner of ShawCraft Sign Co., and they are valued at $10,000 each.
Upon completion, the series will be one of the largest works of public art in the country.
