Community plans support of Monte Holm mural

Rotary to spearhead efforts for $10,000 Monte mural

MOSES LAKE — If several citizens have their way, a giant Monte Holm may soon greet passers-by.

Rotary Club of Moses Lake Community Development Committee will spearhead efforts to allow muralist Patricia Jensen to paint a mural depicting the life of longtime Moses Lake businessman Monte Holm. The committee will coordinate the acquisition of the mural site, provide publicity and raise the necessary funding. The mural would be on the old Ritz Theater building, located at 210 Ash St., Jensen said.

"Monte's one of those people that kind of is like Moses Lake," said Stroud Kunkle, chair of the Rotary Community Development Committee. "You go to the post office and somebody (Holm) hands you candy. He's never seen anyone he doesn't know or like, and I think it's time for the community to support him."

Kunkle said Rotary thought it would be a natural to lead the efforts, and hoped people wouldn't feel too bad about the organization coordinating the mural.

"It's much better having it be a community effort, than just a Rotary effort," he said, noting that people can send donations to Rotary at P.O. Box 525.

At a brief presentation during a Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce retreat Tuesday afternoon, Bill Chambers, an advocate and member of Rotary, the chamber and the Moses Lake Business Association, said the effort is at a place where Rotary is ready to collect the money, Jensen is ready to paint and things are ready to roll.

"We've always embraced his story," Chambers said of Holm, noting that Jensen envisions other murals throughout town. "I think it's a good start. There's 15 to 20 senior citizens that could be just as easy muralized, but we've got to start somewhere. And he's a good start. And he's still alive and can enjoy it, and we can enjoy it."

Groups to which Chambers has made presentations about the mural include the Moses Lake Business Association, the Moses Lake City Council and the chamber. He said they have expressed support for the idea.

The Holm mural is Jensen's planned second in a proposed series of murals depicting Moses Lake history throughout the town. Jensen presented Holm with an oil painting of the mural in mid-July; at the time, she said she was not certain that the mural would come about, because she lacked financial support for the project.

The painting depicts Holm as a 2-year-old, as a sheepherder, a steam engine worker, a hobo riding the train rails and as he is today, owner of his own train and the House of Poverty Museum.

"I want Monte to realize how many people care about him and love him," Jensen said. "That's the main thing."

Jensen estimated that the mural would cost $10,000, plus tax and cost of paint. That figure comes from the cost of her labor and the price of paint, she said, noting that she would use an expensive mural paint protected from ultraviolet light.

Jensen estimated that painting of the mural would take 45 days from start to finish, and said she would be working primarily in the early morning and the evening because of the hot weather.

"It's a negative space in our community," she said of the mural's planned location on Ash. "It's a blank wall and it's just kind of there. I think it would turn into a positive space, and because it faces Broadway (Avenue), it's a good step towards our approach with beautifying. It's still in the heart of Moses Lake and close to the other murals. I think it's a good location."

Jensen said in July that she would be leaving Moses Lake in September or October to become an artist-in-residence elsewhere. She said that she would be open to being available for three months out of the year if the Moses Lake community wants more of her work.

"I feel very honored and grateful that these people want to have this done, and I'm very happy because it's an important cause," she said. "I'm glad that people have taken the initiative to make this happen. Monte's an important man, and I think he should be recognized. There's many individuals in our town who should be recognized, but mainly our history. If this turns into more murals, I would hope that they would continue with our history."

Jensen said she would like to see an after-school program set up with children participating on future murals in other spaces.

"It's nice of them, I think," Holm said of the movement for his mural. "I think back to when I was hungry and cold with frozen feet, and then that people would be this nice to me, I think it's wonderful. I went through awful, and then to get an honor like this, I think is great."