History gets a facelift

The late Jake Wells enjoyed designing the Cape Girardeau Bicentennial Mural because it combined two of his loves -- art and history.

"I think he was glad to see there were members of the community getting involved in art and history," said Wells' daughter, Jeanie Troy of Marble Hill, Mo. "To be asked to design something like that, it made him feel good. He loved Cape County."

Now, nearly 10 years after the well-known teacher and artist finished it and three years after his death at age 81, the mural at the corner of Fountain and Broadway is beginning to show its age.

The colors are beginning to fade on the 40-by-22-foot mural, which portrays the founding of Cape Girardeau in 1792, a time shaped by the Spanish and French regimes and their relationship with the American Indians.

The Red House, which represents city founder Louis Lorimier's home and trading post, isn't as red. The green of the trees has dimmed.

Missouri's extreme elements have caused pronounced cracks to run along Louis Lorimier's face. The expanding and contracting of unused cast-iron sewer pipes behind the wall have caused the paint to peel around Jean Girardot, a young French marine lieutenant who started a trading post here in the 1700s.

"It's beginning to look washed out," Troy said. "The original colors, getting that full east sun every day, have lost their vibrancy."

Repainting starts Monday

The River Heritage Mural Association, which oversees seven downtown mural projects, is working to restore that vibrancy. The building's owner, David Epps, has already spent money from his own pocket to remove the cast-iron sewer pipes from the wall that contributed to the problem.

The mural will be repainted starting Monday, said J. Tim Blattner, president of the mural association.

The association has hired the mural's original contractor, Weatherford Signs of Carbondale, Ill., to do the work. Additional work will be done by Cape Paint & Glass and A.J. Kluesner Plaster.

"The mural will be restored to its original condition," Blattner said. "It's important because it's a source of community pride. They're a record of our history and play an important role in our tourism effort."

Epps is in the process of renovating the entire 80-year-old apartment building at 115 N. Fountain that features the mural. He agreed that it is important.

"Nationwide, there's an interest in refurbishing old structures," Epps said. "I watch the tourists, and they pull out the mural maps and walk around town and take pictures of every one of them."

Not to mention that it will keep Wells' legacy alive. Wells, who was born in Marble Hill, taught secondary education from 1947 to 1960 and at Southeast Missouri State University from 1960 to 1981, where he was head of the art department.

The University Foundation is currently raising funds to establish the Jake Wells Teaching Gallery, which will be located in the art department.

Wells had an extensive knowledge of regional history. He became linked with local history in 1970, when he began a three-year project to research, design and paint a 40-by-21-foot mural in Kent Library at the university.

Wells also produced 27 watercolor paintings to accompany his friend George Suggs' text for a book, "Water Mills of the Missouri Ozarks."

"He made important contributions to this area," Blattner said. "Doing this seems like a good way to honor him."

Selling watercolors

The cost of the project is $5,000. For the money, Blattner said, they are turning to the man who created the mural. Four original Jake Wells watercolor paintings will be on display and for sale at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

The exhibit will open Friday in conjunction with the Arts Council's monthly First Friday reception from 5 to 8 p.m.

In the meantime, the association is using reserve funds.

The paintings -- of mills, creeks and winter and spring scenes -- will be sold at a silent auction July 19. They also are selling about 25 prints of the mural's design for $175 apiece.

Troy said her father was pleased with the design and he would be glad to know it was being maintained. But she said he would have stopped short of saying he was proud of the work.

"He wouldn't have released a design he didn't like," she said. "He would not have stood there and said he was proud of it, though. Jake Wells wasn't a boastful person. He was real quiet, laid back."

But Troy admitted to feeling a certain pride in her father's work when she sees it.

"He passed along his appreciation to my brother and me," she said. "It makes you feel good to drive up Broadway and see it. To see it restored will be really nice."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137