On Oct. 1, a new mural was finished in Platteville, WI. Found outside of Sweet Violet Floral Boutique on S. Water Street, the new mural adds a bright pop of color with its floral design. The project took approximately 50 hours of work from the artist. This new addition is one of many murals in the downtown area of the city.
Platteville already has a handful of murals which add interest to the college town. Artist Tud Bowen designed many of the historic murals in the Platteville downtown area, such as the piece, “Pioneering the Good Life: Rountree to Ryan,” found on the corner of Main and Oak St, which features the faces of nine figures to commemorate their contributions to the Platteville area. Bowen also designed the Mining History mural and Lead Mining mural.
On the back of Rountree Gallery is Katie Schutte’s, “Stain #36,” featuring trippy kaleidoscopic patterns created by spraying acrylic paint over a massive 5-foot crocheted doily. Corey Jenny’s mural, “Space & Time,” can be found on the West side of Rountree Gallery, featuring a young girl and an astronaut seeming to share a moment of silence as they hold balloon versions of the Earth and Moon in their hands.
Until this year, the most recent mural was the “Fire Mural,” dedicated to the Platteville Fire Department Volunteers and created by Darby Shea Kruser in 2023.
Ellen Pinnola, the owner of Sweet Violet Floral Boutique, shared her reasoning behind commissioning the new artwork, stating, “I’ve always felt that public art brings a town’s energy and spirit to life. Transforming a dull cement wall into something colorful and uplifting felt like a simple way to share a bit of joy with the community.”
Pinnola is not alone in this sentiment, as the community has had a massively positive online response to the new addition to the city. The Boutique’s Facebook post announcing the finished project was met with love and appreciation, with many commenters complimenting the artist.
The artist, Courtney Knockel, is a Platteville local. Knockel went to UW-Madison for Art Education, but decided to be a career artist instead, primarily working on pet portrait commissions and original work sales, with this being her first mural. She has exhibited her art from Illinois to North Carolina, but she spends most of her time in her home state of Wisconsin.
When asked for a message to fellow artists, Knockel shared, “My message to art students and anyone looking to pursue a career in art is that it’s possible! A big thing that held me back for the longest time was listening to other people around me who doubted me and told me a career in art is unrealistic. It’s only unrealistic if you think it is. It’s cheesy but true, be creative and trust your gut; you can make it work.”