The Great Appleton Mural Walk

One of the events that popped up in my Facebook feed was a mural walk in downtown Appleton with the muralist, Chad Brady This sounded like fun. I’ve seen the murals pop up and it would be interesting to learn about them. The problem was it was the same day as the run in Whitewater. I was fairly certain that Holly and I couldn’t run a 5K, shower, eat, and get back to Appleton by 1 PM. So when we were at breakfast after the race, I saw that it was rescheduled for the next Saturday due to rain. Yea!!! I could go now.

Despite being 90 degrees out, I still wanted to go. The hubby had games starting at 2 so I had to be home by 1:15 which should have been a problem since the walk started at 11 especially since the Flag Day Parade started 2.

The Mural Walk was a joint venture between the Post Crescent Newspaper and the Trout Museum of Art. We met at the Art Museum and there were about a good 20-30 people there for the walk. They handed out maps of all the stops. I was impressed that they were prepared for the heat and had bottle water for any one that wanted some. I brought my own since I knew what the heat could do to me.

Photo Courtesy of Mural Walk Facebook Page

Many of the murals were outside. However, sometimes the group of us would troop inside and through a business to see the mural inside. At each stop Chad would explain the mural, what was behind it, and answered any questions. It was very informative yet casual. He even pointed out a mural that wasn’t his that we should stop at.

Stop #1: The Ambassador

Stop #2 Shear Chaos

Stop #3 Vagabond Imports -- Chad touched up and added his touches to this mural

Stop #4 The Alley Project at the History Museum at the Castle -- Chad got around the rules by painting the background different colors. The murals can only be a certain size (356 sq. feet or something)

Stop #5 The Fire -- The Original Mural

Stop #6 Antojitos -- Chad painted some of these, the owner painted others. 

Stop #7 Parklet -- this was a community project

Stop #8 Cozzy Corner -- I think the diners thought we were weird

Stop #9 Vacant Building -- soon to become a beach bar. And the tear drop was added after his death.

Stop #10 Fox River House -- Adler Brau was originally brewed across the street

After 10 murals, it was time to board the trolley and head into the flats to view the last 3 murals. However by this time it was almost 12:45 and I was pretty sure we would not get to the last 3 murals in and back to the transportation center in 15 minutes. I decided to bail and head home. I was greatly disappointed that I couldn’t see all the murals but it was still a great morning.

I can’t wait to see where the next mural is going to be. I will be on the lookout for more murals in downtown Appleton. I get the murals but I’m not so sure about the knitting except for this guy.

Maybe they need to do a walk to explain about the random knitting around town next.