By Dennis Volkert
Unveiling for a mural at Freight House, at Sturgis Historical Museum, is set for 5-7 p.m. June 27.
Heidi Wolfe, of Wolfe Makes Art, and Callie Aldrich, have done the painting, with concept by Bill Haack, leader of Sturgis Area Model Railroaders.
It depicts the two main passenger train lines that passed through Sturgis into the 1950s, New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad. Haack was among the passengers on the last ride through Sturgis before the line ceased.
Haack connected with Wolfe in fall 2024 to begin design of the mural.
“Bill’s desire was to have a mural that honored the main passenger train lines that traveled through Sturgis. He and the ‘train guys’ primed and painted the wall, then I began painting.”
In advance of this week’s unveiling, Wolfe provided for Sturgis Sentinel some reflections about the mural and her overall approach.
“My goal as an artist is always to find what makes each business, location, person original and then to tell their story through graphic imagery. My style is playful, clean, vintage … I want viewers to see and feel history in my work. I want their hearts to smile.“
“I often will add something hidden in plain sight in my murals. In this case, it was the classic pointing finger in the bottom left area of the mural.”
Wolfe’s first commission was from the city of Sturgis when she was an art teacher in the public schools.
“They allowed me to have design freedom and the ’Electric City Ghost Sign’ is what I created,” she said. The logo caught my eye on a city work truck. It was fun and colorful. I also discovered Sturgis was nicknamed Electric City. When I painted the image, I made it look like it had been there for decades. Signs that have actually been on buildings for decades and have faded are called ‘ghost signs.’ So I created a ‘new ghost sign.’”
As she finished the mural in 2019, she mentioned to a friend that she had painted it.
“He didn’t know where the mural was located, because he thought it was actually old,” she said.
According to Rosalie Currier at Sturgis Historical Society, it was Haack’s vision to make the experience of entering the model train room even more intriguing. The mural display concept grew from that.
