Grain Bins at the Homer’s Community Garden to be Covered in Artwork of Main Street

Lily Byrne, X101 News:

As of this Spring, the four grain bins at Homer’s Community Garden will have digital murals of downtown Homer.

Homer resident Victor Siegle has been wanting to put something on the grain bins since he started the Community Garden. He and Ty Marshal, Executive Director of the Center for the Arts, put out a call for artists and received three proposals.

“Two of them were bland, and the one that happened to stick out to us was Victor Siegle’s, where he explores the history of Homer,” Marshal said at the Homer Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday night.

From 2001-2003, a BOCES class recreated a mural of downtown Homer that is in the back of the American Legion, using photographs of the mural. Siegle then ran this re-creation through a number of artificial intelligence programs to add detail.

Each of the four grain bins will have an 8×16 foot mural on it. There will be some sort of frame attached by grommets to the bin, so the art can easily be switched out, Siegle said.

Marshal hopes the cost will not exceed $6,000. The proposal was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees.

“People will come see this and spend time looking at the details,” said Trustee Ed Finkbeiner. “This is a great thing for Homer.”

Also at the meeting, Mayor Pat Clune announced that community yoga classes will be held from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. at the Homer Fire Department on Thursday evenings, Jan. 8 to March 12. It is on the second floor, and free to all town or village residents.

Also, Santa Claus will make a special appearance to Homer later this month.

“We have made some calls to the North Pole,” Clune said. “We have some people that are on the inside up there, and we have coordinated to have Santa come down and drive around the village on December 20. Homer Fire Department will be his sleigh, and Homer Police Department will provide security.”

Clune added that while the ice rink is now up, it is not yet functional. “Trust me, we will let you know when it is open for skating,” he said.