Local artist adds splash of color to Coosa River Community

Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Richard Rybka

It’s not unusual to see postage stamps celebrating art and history, but the city of Riverside has taken the celebration to a new level.  Even their post office building is a piece of art, one that invites visitors to picture themselves enjoying what the city has to offer.

As the first hints of summer weather invited visitors to the lake, local artist Penny Arnold put the finishing touches on a mural that welcomes both visitors and residents to the sleepy town on the banks of Logan Martin Lake.  On Highway 57, just past the fire station and City Hall, you’ll see the 40-foot mural covering the exterior side wall of the post office. 

The building, which used to be a grocery store, has served as the post office since the impounding of the lake in 1964.  Originally owned by former mayor W.A. “Bill” Coleman, the largely brick structure also houses Local Sister, a home décor store operated by his great granddaughter, Maddie Cochran. 

Coleman’s daughter and Maddie’s grandmother, Cynthia Coleman Cochran, now owns the building and approves of the facelift the historic building has received.  “I was worried at first about the bright colors,” said Cochran.  “But I really like it.  I think it gives us something else interesting in Riverside.  And it’s fun for people to take pictures by it.”

The distinctive railroad truss bridge is the crown jewel of the panorama adorning the building’s facade.  The iconic bridge was built in 1927 and was modified to accommodate the creation of the lake.  It is a central part of the history of Riverside, a community that needed the railroad to support the sawmill and logging industry that drove the town’s economy in its early days. 

Celebrating that landmark and the surrounding beauty of the lake is central to the goals established by the Riverside Beautification Organization (RBO), which commissioned the mural.  The RBO funded the project with grant money from a local business, Charity Steel, which gives a percentage of their profits each year to a local 501(c)3 organization. 

RBO President Julie Pounders says the mural is part of their mission to spruce up the city.  “We’ve wanted to do a mural for a long time,” she says, adding that she is already looking for a location to add another one in the future.

This one was over seven months in the making from start date to completion.  Since paint doesn’t dry well in cold weather, Arnold wasn’t able to do much in the colder months.  She says the cumulative time spent on the project was about four weeks. 

Arnold is a former English teacher turned art teacher, who now teaches art part time at Duran Junior High School.  She has worked with stained glass, mosaic, drawing and sculpture, primarily, but had not done a mural before.  She had already been refining her skills in painting by taking classes by noted local artist Nettie Bean.  When she was offered the chance to paint the mural, she jumped at it.  Her first step was researching the kind of paint to use on the primarily brick façade.

Acrylic masonry paint was the medium she settled on.  Application was by paintbrushes and bunched up plastic bags for texture.  She added a paint sprayer to her tool belt to blend the sky colors. Safety tools included a stepladder for the higher reaches and an umbrella for sun protection.

“Painting is so many layers,” Arnold explained.  “We wanted it to be bold, bright and colorful.  When we started, it was just swaths of color and people wondered what we were doing.  As it started coming together, people began stopping to tell me how much they loved it.

“Do you know how tough it is to paint straight lines on brick?,” Arnold added.  “It was a challenge in painting the railroad bridge because bricks are not a flat surface.” 

In addition to the railroad bridge, the landscape art includes fishermen and kayakers, a nod to the leisure activities and tournaments popular in the area.  Large, white American Lotus flowers, native to the ponds in nearby Riverside Park, are also featured in the painting.  Arnold included sunset colors in the sky to capture the beauty of evening on the lake.  She admits to having a bit of trouble with the osprey.  “At first, it didn’t look quite right,” she said.  “Julie, the RBO president, knows a lot about birds and was able to give me suggestions that helped bring it around.”

Arnold had some friends help, too.  When she was initially covering the building with large areas of color, she invited friends from her church, Pell City First United Methodist, whom she called the “Joy and Color Brigade,” to come and paint the base layers.

The colorful mural has certainly given Riverside residents another reason to be proud of their city.  According to Riverside Post Office employee Honey Waters, people come to her window frequently to give compliments about it.  “A lot of people seem to like it.  In fact,” she added, “just a couple of days ago, I watched a group of people stop and take their picture by it.” 

Arnold hopes she will be able to do more murals in and around the area.  “It’s given me so much joy to see the happiness it brings people in the community when they drive by.  Every community deserves to have something that encourages pride in their city.”  The artist has certainly delivered that.