WOW on Wheels

Mural pictures are on display at Homme Home
By: 
Miriam Nelson
News Editor

Walls of Wittenberg has come full circle. In 2005, WOW founder Lois Smith approached Homme Home’s executive director Steve Seybold about installing a mural on the outside of the building. It was the first and the biggest mural, covering four walls and two stories.

Now you can go inside Homme, take a walk through the halls and see pictures of the rest of the murals.

Part of the deal that WOW makes with each muralist is that he or she donates a rendering of the mural for the permanent art collection to hang in the WOWSPACE between shows. To date, there are 28 muralettes in the collection.

The only problem is that few get to see the collection, unless they request a private tour of the building. According to Elaine Diffor, event coordinator for WOW, there is also the added time and energy of putting up and taking down the art work when preparing for the four art shows and two theatrical productions held each year in the WOWSPACE.

“We wanted to explore the idea of loaning out these pictures so that more people would have the opportunity to see and enjoy them,” said WOW President Elaine Knab.

Tara Hoppe-Schmidt, the administrator of the community-based residential facility area at Homme, said she was looking for a way to help the residents feel connected to the community and reached out to Knab for ideas. Hanging the mural renderings at Homme was a perfect fit.

“The residents in CBRF don’t have the opportunity to do as much as they used to in the community, and having the murals indoors for them to see makes them feel a part of it all,” said Hoppe-Schmidt.

Agnes Medo has made her home at Homme for the past 10 years. In 2012, she and four others were interviewed for a WOW video project called “5 Lives: Wittenberg Wisdom.”

“Being part of the video project was fun for me, and now it’s so nice to have the WOW murals inside to see every day,” said Medo.

Even the staff enjoy seeing the pictures. Hoppe-Schmidt noted that not everyone who works there is from Wittenberg, so it’s a way of helping them feel more connected to the community.

Personal care assistant Pam Meidl is from Antigo and enjoys them as much as the residents do. She said she used to take the same route driving to and from work every day; now she takes time to drive around town to see the larger murals.

“I think it’s amazing,” Meidl said. “The train and the cow are my favorites.”

Volunteers also enjoy seeing the display; it gives them something to share and visit about with the residents.

“I volunteer every Friday, and it’s great to see how much the pictures mean to the residents,” said Karen Hendrikson, Wittenberg.

The staff at Homme enjoy the “Foundations of Faith” mural, which was completed in 2006. This fall, they sponsored a run/walk fundraiser for Alzheimer’s and used the mural as the starting and ending point for the event. The mural provided a great backdrop, and the staff served food in the gathering area in front of the mural.

When Smith first approached Seybold about the mural, he was intrigued by the theme of focusing on the faith aspect of the community, though he admits to being a bit apprehensive when she explained the size of her vision. He notes that it’s exciting to have the mural for residents, staff and visitors to enjoy.

“We were the first location she approached to start the murals, and I think Lois would have been pleased to see that WOW has chosen to loan us the pictures,” said Seybold.

Smith passed away in October 2018 and the WOW organization is continuing her vision.

“We hope to loan out this display to other organizations and businesses to help generate more awareness about WOW and its murals,” said Knab.

The mural pictures will be on display indefinitely at Homme Home for the Aging, 604 S. Webb St., Wittenberg.