Fueled by enthusiasm over beautifying downtown Waterloo, Mayor Tom Smith has put in motion a new effort: murals on the sides of buildings.

The first one, started on the side of the Bean Tree Cafe this past weekend, depicts the float of A. Lutz, “The Waterloo Coffee Man,” in the 1908 Farmers’ Institute Parade.>>>

The City of Waterloo has been working together with professors and students from the Art Institute of St. Louis to get this project moving.

Smith said he originally saw the work of the “Walldogs,” a group of Midwest mural and sign artists, and thought something like their work would look great in the downtown area.

“We want to revitalize the downtown area and make it walk-able with murals and signage,” Smith said.

Smith and city officers Shawn Kennedy and Sarah Deutch asked around, trying to find people to help with getting  the project started.

“We just didn’t have the expertise to get it going,” Smith said. On Smith and his wife’s anniversary, they were out at BoBeck’s for dinner and got to talking to Bob Cox about his daughter, who is a student at the Art Institute of St. Louis.

“I told her about our idea and she got really excited and wanted to help with this project,” Smith said.

Rachel Cox said being asked to work on this project was “out of this world” and was she honored to be a part of it.

“This is the biggest opportunity I’ve ever had given to me,” she said. “I was really nervous, but really excited.”

Cox said working on the mural was different from anything she’d ever done before and is looking forward to being able to help with many other artistic opportunities in downtown Waterloo.

They took photos of the buildings they thought would be good to put murals on and began collecting historic photographs of Waterloo.

“We took a bunch of different options to the students and they came up with some great mock-ups,” Deutch said.

Painting the murals benefits the students working on the projects along with the city, because in addition to the painters, filmography students will be documenting the process, too.

“They’re keeping track of the whole thing,” Smith said.

The first mural was started by projecting the image on the side of the building at night and outlining it in charcoal.

“They use that as a guide and come back with exterior acrylic paint to paint the image straight onto the brick,” Deutch said.

Cox described old Waterloo as a “lost beauty.”

“The history is somewhat appreciated, but some people may not even know these things about the town they live in,” Cox said.

By putting in murals like these, Smith said he’s hoping it attracts more “mom and pop” stores downtown and encourages people to stop and visit more frequently.

After the mural on the Bean Tree Cafe is finished, the next murals of old soda bottles will be painted in the windows of Bountiful Blossoms, followed by a mounted plywood mural on the side of Bill Wirth’s insurance building.

“We’re trying to get a hold of some other businessmen to see about others (murals),” Smith said. “We’re hoping people might even come to us about getting one.”

After the first few are completed, Smith said he’s hoping they will get the excitement level up and inspire local artists to come help as well.

“We want to do them all vintage,” he said. “It’s taken us three years to get to this point and we’re really excited. This will look great for Waterloo.”