Winner Announced

A design submitted by Pat Samples-Ehrlich, local commercial artist, has been selected for the Fort Morgan Mural Project, completing phase one of the project.
Samples-Ehrlich, of Weldona, has painted numerous murals over the years and, as a commercial artist since 1975, has produced signs from Colorado to New Zealand and many places in between.
A judging panel selected Samples-Ehrlich’s design from among six entries. In addition to Samples-Ehrlich, entries came from Carol Boodakian, Kelly Henderson, Kirsten Russell, Heather Arenas and Bonnie Lieder.
“I kept the design simple so that the overall design will not be complicated,” Samples-Ehrlich said.
Judges were Pat Merrill, City of Fort Morgan; Juan Mecillas, representing the Downtown Business Assoc. and Fort Morgan Chamber; and Ann Iungerich, director for the Fort Morgan Mural Project.
“We were pleased with the quality of the designs submitted and the creativity involved,” Iungerich commented.
Samples-Ehrlich’s winning entry earned her $200 cash prize plus other considerations.
The winning design will be unveiled when the mural is presented on Sept. 18 at the Fall Harvest Car show.
The Fort Morgan Mural Project now enters phase two, where 480 artists from the area will have the opportunity to paint a 12”x12” panel of the mural. Workshops will be offered to provide specifics for that phase.
Artists of all levels, from beginner to advanced, are encouraged to apply to paint a panel. There is no charge to artists. Both the canvas and paints will be provided.
Artists do not have to live in Fort Morgan but should have some connection with the community. Applications will be taken on a first-come/first-serve basis.
Artists will have from April 1-Aug 15 to complete their panel. Although artists are asked to apply for only one tile, some artists may have opportunity to do more than one if applications are below the 480 mark.
Individual tile applications can be obtained at the Fort Morgan Chamber office, The Flower Petaler, Impressions by Bird, the Fort Morgan Library and various other places around town.
The first official workshop for artist will be held on April 10 from 9am – noon at the building behind City Hall. The completed mural will eventually be mounted on the south side of that building.
For more information, please contact Iungerich at 970-867-2363 or http://fmmuralproject.blogspot.com/ or fmmuralproject@gmail.com.