Elevator Art

Elevator Art AG WORLD Ag World 11-6-21 A small Minnesota town put itself on the map this past summer by commissioning a giant painting on the side of its grain elevator. Even before the artist got into the high-lift truck to start painting, local, and national news media were on the scene sending out stories about the first-of-its-kind "elevator art". Since the completion of the king-size mural this fall, hundreds of stories have been written or broadcasted about the town and its unusual project. Good Thunder, a farming town of about 600 people, started the project in order to get publicity for the town. The Good Thunder Development Corporation, a 5-member local board, obtained grants and donations to finance the project, which cost about $15,000. They hope the publicity will at-tract new business to the area. The giant mural, done in bright blues, blazing reds and sunflower yellows, is a "family photo album" that depicts the history of Good Thunder and the surrounding area. The artist, a painter named Ta-Coumba Aiken, put the mural together using historical photograph`s owned by local citizens. The man in the painting is Good Thunder himself, the Indian that gave the town its name. The large building is a hotel that was destroyed by fire years ago and the tractors are a reminder of a protest tractorcade that came through the town in the late 1970's. The kids using the computer are a reminder of the future. More than 1,100 gal. of paint were consumed by the mural. It took several months to complete the project. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Good Thunder Development Corp., Good Thunder, Minn. 56037 (ph 507 278-3694).

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