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It was an overcast day a few weeks ago when I set off from our home on 15th Street, walking toward Clarinda’s Lied Public Library.

I had just passed the Sheriff’s Office with its American and Blue Lives Matter flags when I glanced over and saw this mural for the first time.

Suddenly, my step quickened, and my mood lightened, so I had to slow down to look closer at this new addition to our southwest Iowa community.

I loved the vibrancy and the centered tree. It covered a worn-out, nondescript wall painting.

Robert Henri said:

You should paint like a man coming over the hill singing.

Whoever painted this took that advice to heart.

I asked my friends Scott and Nancy, who know everything and everyone in our small town. They are the prototype connectors Malcolm Gladwell writes about in The Tipping Point.

They gave me the artist’s name, Tatiana Schaapherder, who lives in town.

When I asked Tatiana about this mural, she said

My sponsors gave me one word: Community.

She told me, “I wanted my painting to show all the people of my town coming together, with the tree in the middle representing growth. The cardinal on the right is the town bird and high school team name. The robin on the left honors the building owned by the Robins Nest Cafe.”

“Have you done any more murals in Clarinda? ” I asked.

Mamá Montaña, she said.

This is Mamá’s story. It’s the story of people coming together to make street art.

It’s the story of Community.

The Artist

You’ve already met Tatiana. Currently, she is in her 4th year of college studying Art Education. Born in Clarinda, she has traveled widely, including Tanzania, Japan, St. Croix, Germany, and, last year, Costa Rica, where she got the idea for Mamá Montaña which means Mountain Mama.

She has painted 16 murals in three countries, including for her accommodation in Costa Rica.

When I asked why street art, she said

It’s my favorite art because of how transformative it is to space.

The Building

This is Mamá’s space before Tatiana and Chelly.

The building is owned by a local realtor and rented by Chelly Kendrick, who moved back to Clarinda two years ago from Rapid City, South Dakota, to open Kendrick Station, a spa, beauty, and personal care business.

Chelly asked the building’s owner about painting the outside, and he said, “That’s fine; just don’t paint the brick.”

Because Chelly had also traveled to Costa Rica, when she met Tatiana, she felt comfortable saying, “Follow your vision for this space.”

Here is that vision.

The Patron

“Can I borrow your building as a canvas?”

Trish Bergren, Clarinda Carnegie Art Museum Director, has asked several local business owners this question. Carnegie helped pay for Mamá Montaña.

She told me finding an artist with a vision that honors the space was challenging but that once she met Tatiana, she looked forward to “watching her fly.”

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Beckie Finch, Executive Director of the Clarinda Foundation, catalyzed The Community Tree Mural. She worked with the building owners and approached Tatiana with the one-word idea: community.

Now, when she walks by The Community Tree mural, she thinks

When we think of growth, roots, beauty, peace, change, or an interpretation entirely personal, our mural represents community, our community.

Now, when I walk by, art mimics life, the life of our community.