PRELIMINARY FLOODWALL MURAL WORK BEGINS

Coloring inside the lines takes on a new meaning when you're talking about outlining and painting a 500-foot mural.

Just ask Anthony Spinazola -- it's been his job for 15 years. Spinazola is a muralist and painter for Weatherford Sign Co. of Carbondale, Ill.

He and two co-workers spent Monday night tracing the outlines for the "Wall of Fame" mural along Water Street. Painting will begin in October.

An oversized projection machine displayed the mural image on the floodwall. Because the images are projected using light, the outlining can't be done until after sundown.

"It goes faster and quicker this way," Spinazola said of the projection machine. "It's simpler than holding the patterns."

In the past, muralists laid patterns on the wall and outlined the details but often battled the wind blowing them around, said Spinazola, who has painted other murals in downtown Cape Girardeau.

The "Wall of Fame" mural will feature 40 famous Missourians including Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, astronaut Linda Godwin of Oak Ridge and musician Jess Stacy of Cape Girardeau. The center panel will feature the Missouri flag, designed in Cape Girardeau by Marie Oliver.

"It's like a giant canvas," Spinazola said. "It's very smooth and will be nice to paint on."

The seven-color, 500-foot-long mural will cover the floodwall from Independence to Merriwether streets. It will face Water Street.

The $35,000 mural is the seventh and largest project of the River Heritage Mural Association. It was designed by Margaret Randol Dement, a Cape Girardeau native.