The Girl Who Started an Art Revolution

And forever changed Athena Falls, Iowa

According to the most recent census the population of Athena Falls, Iowa was 1,002. Everyone in town knew that the population had decreased since that census. Several old folks had died and quite a few teenagers moved away upon graduating from high school. And there were hardly any new babies born to replenish the numbers. And no one in their right mind moved to Athena Falls from elsewhere.

If you were to take a long leisurely drive through the Iowa countryside you would come across many small towns just like Athena Falls; some a little bigger, some a little smaller. One of the things most all of these towns have in common is the presence of grain silos. They are usually the town’s most prominent and tallest structures and can often be seen in the distance before ever entering the town.

Then, of course, there are the churches, their steeples poking above the tree tops but failing to reach the height of the grain silos. There would also be a school, a grocery store and a handful of local mom and pop businesses. And then there would be plenty of homes; many of which are low to middle income homes built forty to eighty years ago. The country towns are eerily similar, the biggest difference being the mascot of the local high school.

Athena Falls is no exception. It is just another cookie-cutter rural town. That is…. it used to be. But everything changed a couple of years ago and it is all because of Amanda Gundersen, a junior at the local high school. Now when you drive through Athena Falls you may very well say to yourself, “I don’t think I’m in Iowa anymore….”

Though she was only a sixteen and a half year old junior in high school, Amanda was six feet, two inches tall. Taking into consideration the fact that the only footwear Amanda ever wore was cowboy boots, she was essentially six foot, three, plus a little. People stopped measuring when she put on her cowboy hat.

Ever since second grade Amanda was always the tallest kid in her class, gender be damned. She seemed to be in a perpetual growth spurt. In fifth grade she was the only girl in her class with breasts. This resulted in an inordinate amount of ridicule and bullying which only served to toughen her up. Behind her back, the boys in her class secretly called her, “Amazon Amanda.” Other boys, along with plenty of girls, called her, “Wonder Woman.” The old geezers who had coffee every morning at Big Jim’s Diner on the highway simply referred to her as, “That Big Girl.”

Amanda was not just tall; she was muscular. A few townspeople had been overheard calling her ‘beefy.’ This may have resulted from the fact that Amanda spent her summers working on her grandfather’s ranch digging fence posts, stringing barbed wire fence, bailing and hauling hay, and riding horses to coral her grandfather’s cattle. In the summer between her freshman and sophomore years in high school she won the barrel racing championship at the local county fair and rodeo. She was never more in her element than when she had a horse between her legs. Every cowboy in the county was afraid of her.

All the townsfolk of Athena Falls, Iowa were greatly dismayed when Amanda refused to sign up for girls’ basketball at the high school. With her Amazonian height and muscular strength, everyone figured that the local high school’s girls’ basketball team would finally have a chance to have its very first winning season and maybe even have a chance to advance to State semi-finals.

But Amanda had no interest in sports. Even sports involving horseback riding were just a passing fancy to her. It turned out that Amanda’s primary focus in life was not farming nor ranching nor horses nor sports….

…. it was art!

Ever since she was a tall kindergartener Amanda loved drawing and coloring and painting. This was greatly encouraged by her mother, Greta Gundersen (or G.G. as she was called by her female friends). Greta was the head librarian at the Athena Falls Regional Library. She felt it was her life’s calling to promote all the arts, not just to her children but to all the community’s children.

Amanda’s father, Gus Gundersen (he allowed no one to call him G.G.) ran the local agricultural co-op and sold agriculture insurance. Occasionally during her childhood it seemed that Amanda’s parents were in a competition to win their daughter over to their own personal interests. Greta pulled Amanda towards the arts while Gus pulled her towards agriculture and ranching. It was a subtle yet hard-fought competition resulting in a lavish amount of attention being received by Amanda. In the end it was Greta who won the fight.

There was never a shortage of art supplies in Amanda’s home as she was growing up. She was treated to painting classes and for every Christmas and birthday she received art books; both instructional and photo collections of famous art. On the occasional family trips to Chicago she spent entire days in the art museums.

The Gundersen home was on the highway that went through town, in fact it was the very first house inside the Athena Falls town limit sign. While the house was set back from the highway, there was an old white clapboard two-car detached garage that sat right up to the highway. While Amanda was in junior high school her father erected a large metal garage building near the back of the property that was big enough for both of the family vehicles as well as a couple of tractors and other farm equipment.

In a grand gesture Amanda’s parents gave her the old two-garage to use as an art studio. Her bedroom had become far too cluttered with easels and canvases and art supplies and finished works of art. It was the best present Amanda ever received.

Just like Amanda herself, her art kept growing to ever larger proportions. It had outgrown her bedroom and it would eventually outgrow her garage art studio. Amanda had become quite enamored of Georgia O’Keefe who produced very large paintings of flowers. Amanda’s own paintings kept getting bigger and bigger.

In the summer of Amanda’s freshman year in high school her art finally pulled her out of her art studio. It moved from the inside of the studio to the outside of it. She could no longer find canvases large enough to contain her art so she decided to paint her very first mural. And she painted it on the side of her garage art studio.

Amanda spent the better part of a month on her mural. When it was done people driving the highway into Athena Falls first saw a green sign which read, “Athena Falls — Pop 1,002,” then just past that sign, on the side of the first building in town, was a very large painting of an African water buffalo. It covered most of the side of Amanda’s garage art studio. The dark black-brown skin of the water buffalo was perfectly framed by the white clap-board siding of the building. It was impossible to miss.

From then on Amanda simply could not be stopped. Everywhere she looked she saw potential surfaces for murals. She decided she would cover the town with murals.

Amanda’s uncle was the only lawyer in town and he lived with his family on the same highway running through town but at the opposite end of town. His property had a red barn on it and Amanda begged her uncle to let her paint a giant polar bear on the side of the red barn. The uncle happily agreed.

On the side of Bosco’s Barber Shop she painted a mural of a saucer-shaped UFO. On the side of the Athena Falls Firestone tire shop she painted a mural of the Giza pyramids with some camels. On the side of Sorenson’s Jewelry store she painted a koala bear.

During the summer following her sophomore year in high school she enlisted the help of a couple of fellow teenage artists and together they painted a very large Viking war ship on the side of the bowling alley. It was visible to anyone driving through town. On the side of the tall feed store they painted a very large and tall transformer robot.

Amanda quickly became the talk of the town and that talk was not always positive. While some praised her artwork others called it ‘garish graffiti.’ Not everyone would grant her permission to paint murals on the sides of their buildings. Some letters to the editor of the local newspaper questioned the legality of what she was doing and others questioned the morality of what she was doing. Some people felt that she was bringing the town to life while others felt she was trashing the town.

Things came to a head when, in Amanda’s junior year in high school, she petitioned the Athena Falls city council for permission to paint a mural on one of the town’s grain silos. City council meetings were usually quick and quiet affairs with very little public attendance. But at the meeting when Amanda presented her petition there was not enough room in the council chambers to hold everyone who came out to either praise or denigrate what Amanda was doing.

During the public comment part of the meeting Pamela Johnstone, the president of the Athena Falls Quilting Club, pointed a finger at Amanda, “That African water buffalo you painted is very unsettling. The land where we all live used to be the home of millions of American buffalo. Why did you paint an African buffalo instead of an American one? I wouldn’t of minded it if you had painted an American buffalo because that’s part of our heritage.”

“Yeah, and there ain’t no polar bears around here neither,” chimed in Charles Dixon, a postal worker.

“I understand your point, Mrs. Johnstone. As everyone can plainly see, none of my murals depict anything local. I did that on purpose. Honoring local heritage is a good thing. I’m not bashing that. But that is what every single solitary little town does. Why should Athena Falls be exactly like every single solitary other town? Why not step out of the box and be different? You know, growing up in Athena Falls, we kids dream about the big wide world out there. And most of us end up moving to that big wide world. Why not bring some of that big wide world here?”

Darrin Colewater, a manager at the local bank, stood up, “Who are you to decide whether or not we want to be different? Some of us don’t want to be different. We like our quiet little country town just the way it is.”

There was mild applause from several audience members.

Eugenia Beck, a secretary at a local insurance company stood up, “I have to question the legality of what you’re doing. You are forcing us to look at all these peculiar murals even if we don’t want to,” she looked at the mayor. “Don’t we have any building codes or ordinances that protect us from being forced to see all this stuff?”

Amanda’s lawyer uncle stood up, “I can answer this. I have scoured all the laws this town has and I can assure you that what Amanda is doing is one hundred percent legal. She never paints a mural without first getting the written permission of the owner of the building. Without that permission she could be charged with graffiti and defacing property but with that permission she is displaying her art legally. It is strictly up to the property owner as to whether they want art painted on their property.”

Abe Sorenson, owner of Sorenson’s Jewelry Store spoke up, “As a businessman and property owner I gave Amanda permission to paint that darling koala bear on my building. In fact, I called her up and asked her to do it. Personally, I think her paintings are adding some life to this town. And I think it’s good for business. Most of ya’ll surely heard my recent radio ad where I mention the koala bear in the ad. Thanks to that bear everyone knows where my business is and everyone’s eyes are drawn to it. It’s just plain good for business.”

Amanda’s lawyer uncle, who was still standing, chuckled, “You know, it’s gotten real easy to give directions to my house. I just say, ‘Go to where the big white polar bear is.’”

Mild laughter erupted.

Darrell Haupt, a large burly man with a foot-long beard, stood up, “As owner of the bowling alley I can attest to the fact that business has improved ever since them kids painted the Viking boat on the side of the building. When Fall leagues were startin’ three different bowling teams all wanted to be called The Vikings. There’s a coupla fellas comin’ to the bowling alley wearin’ those horned Viking helmets. It’s crazy but it’s crazy good. It’s just plain good for business, especially since it didn’t cost me nothin’ but givin’ my permission. Of course, I did give the kids some free games. But I see it as a win-win situation.”

Beth Lancaster, the wife of Pastor Gary, stood up, stomped her foot and pointed at Amanda, “What that girl is doing is wrong and immoral. She’s turning our little town into a circus freak show!”

The noise level in the room immediately increased with people clapping and booing and speaking out of turn. The mayor banged his gavel to silence the audience.

Amanda addressed the crowd, “All I’m doing is expressing myself. I am an artist. That is what artists do. This is my town, too. I’m just trying to bring some joy to my town, some beauty, some excitement. I’m just trying to open people’s eyes so they can see something new and different; something that maybe makes them think beyond the same old daily routine thoughts, something that makes them feel new feelings. I don’t want my town to be just another ordinary cookie cutter town. I want it to be special; a great place for kids to grow up and people to work and grow old in. I want people driving through town to remember Athena Falls as that little town that was brimming with excitement and beauty and life. Art can do this. Art is an expression of life and what I’m doing is just bringing life to our home.”

The noise level increased again and the mayor once again pounded his gavel. The meeting lasted for over two hours and when it was finally over the mayor and city council did not grant Amanda permission to paint a mural on one of the grain silos. But they did not deny her permission either. Instead they decided to form a committee to look into the matter further, temporarily tabling Amanda’s request.

While Amanda was not granted permission to paint on the grain silo she did manage to turn the town upside down. The town was suddenly divided between those who supported her and those who wanted to put an end to her public painting. Her murals became the talk of the town. Even the old geezers who went for coffee at Big Jim’s Diner every morning ceased their endless, exhausting discussions of the second amendment and actually started talking about art!

While the entire town of Athena Falls, Iowa was talking about art — something that had never happened before in the town’s history — many people began taking action. A petition was started to allow Amanda to paint a mural on the grain silo and it was given to the committee. It was signed by a little over six hundred people; roughly sixty percent of the town.

Another petition was started requesting that the city council draft an ordinance banning all murals. It was signed by one hundred, twelve people. It turned out the town was not quite so equally divided as it seemed.

More importantly, Amanda’s phone began ringing constantly. People and businesses all over town began calling her to request that she paint a mural on their buildings. She was quickly booked for months.

Throughout the rest of her junior year in high school and the following summer Amanda and her growing posse of artists painted murals all over town. And it was not just the teenagers who did the painting. Several adults who considered themselves to be artists started painting murals, too. The town of Athena Falls quickly turned into an artist’s paradise. Murals appeared on every vacant surface of every building in town. The town turned into a veritable art museum.

When it came time for the city council meeting when Amanda would finally be given or not given permission to paint a mural on the town’s grain silo the city council chambers were once again filled to capacity. In addition to the locals, a news team from a TV station in Des Moines came to film the proceedings. It was the biggest event in Athena Falls history.

To thunderous applause (and some faint booing) Amanda was granted permission to paint a mural on the side of Athena Falls’ largest grain silo. Amanda, however, refused to reveal exactly what she intended to paint.

To her surprise, Amanda was given pledges by local businesses and citizens to provide all the materials needed to complete her mural. Although scaffolding was originally considered, several local businesses had agreed to pool resources to provide her with a long-reach cherry-picker bucket truck to project her high enough to paint the mural.

The day after graduation from high school Amanda began her project of painting a mural on the side of the highest grain silo in Athena Falls. She had already sketched out what she wanted to paint. Not a single citizen of Athena Falls knew what she was going to paint but they all waited eagerly to find out what it was. The news team from Des Moines agreed to come back when she was finished to reveal the artwork to all of Iowa.

Amanda was nervous. Her art was about to be revealed to all the world. She went back and forth in her mind about what she wanted to paint. In keeping with all her previous murals it had to be something that was not endemic to the local area. It had to be something to grab everyone’s attention. And, to her sudden horror, it was something that every single solitary person in Athena Falls as well as everyone driving through Athena Falls would see and be imprinted with…. forever!

Amanda suddenly felt the power of her paintbrush. She felt the power of her imagination. She felt the connection to her community and her family. She suddenly felt the power of her influence over communal mass consciousness. She suddenly felt her power….

She felt incredibly nervous as she stepped into the bucket of the cherry-picker machine that hoisted her to near the top of the grain silo. She wondered if she had made a mistake in her artistic endeavors. She deeply questioned if her mural would be good enough to be considered art and if it would be accepted by her community.

But she proceeded with her mural; her art. For two weeks she was lifted up by the equipment to the heights of the grain silo and she proceeded to produce her art. The entire town came out every day to see what she was painting. More and more was revealed.

Eventually it became clear to everyone watching that Amanda was painting a mural of an ostrich. The ostrich is the tallest of all birds, much like Amanda was the tallest of all females in Athena Falls, Iowa. She started the painting at the top and went down to the bottom. The painting, or mural, was obviously in keeping with Amanda’s repertoire of images that did not evoke anything local. Ostriches, after all, do not live in Iowa.

But as the mural became more finished in its top to bottom progression it suddenly became obvious that this was no ordinary ostrich.. While Amanda held fast to her insistence that all the murals painted around town were not of anything local, with this, her most gigantic and prevailing mural, it became obvious that she settled on a compromise. While she painted a bird that only existed on the other side of the planet, she included an element of local culture; she painted that bird to be wearing….

…. cowboy boots!

The tallest grain silo in Athena Falls, Iowa was emblazoned with a mural, a painting, of an ostrich wearing cowboy boots! Absolutely no one knew what to think. The entire town was scratching its head. And soon, so was the rest of Iowa. It simply made no sense.

But it made sense to a teeny, tiny handful of people. Amanda was awarded a scholarship to the University of Chicago. And the tiny township of Athena Falls suddenly became a tourist destination. From far and wide, people drove there to see the town covered in murals.

Business at the Sleepy Dayz Motel increased significantly as it did at Big Jim’s Diner next door. At Betty Smith’s Realty home sales increased as some out-of-towners decided to move to Athena Falls. And for unknown reasons the birth rate increased. The town had come to life and, although it lost its most famous citizen when Amanda moved to Chicago (the world became her new blank canvas), everyone was pretty sure that the population of Athena Falls, Iowa once again moved back up over one thousand.