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City of Elma public mural project moves to phase 2

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 24, 2026

By Andrea Watts The Daily World

For the city of Elma’s public mural project, 10 Elma residents submitted artwork that captured the city’s motto of “Where Everyone Belongs.” Ivy Giessen submitted “Come Fly with Us,” which was created using a pen and computer. Her concept is that people could stand in front of the wings and have their picture taken.
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For the city of Elma’s public mural project, 10 Elma residents submitted artwork that captured the city’s motto of “Where Everyone Belongs.” Ivy Giessen submitted “Come Fly with Us,” which was created using a pen and computer. Her concept is that people could stand in front of the wings and have their picture taken.

For the city of Elma’s public mural project, 10 Elma residents submitted artwork that captured the city’s motto of “Where Everyone Belongs.” Ivy Giessen submitted “Come Fly with Us,” which was created using a pen and computer. Her concept is that people could stand in front of the wings and have their picture taken.
“Elma Community Tree” was submitted by Amy Paulk, and her concept was for the mural to be a community project. The mural artist would paint the trunk and words, and the leaves would be fingerprints added by residents.
Using a medium of colored pencils, Ali Lisle and Sarra Burnett-Lisle created “Stamps of Elma Life.” In their submission, they shared that “we wanted to make a mural that anyone who is a past or current citizen-young or old-would be able to identify with at least one Stamp of Elma Life.”

At the city of Elma’s March 23 City Council meeting, Clerk Treasurer Amy Durga shared that 10 concept submissions had been submitted for the public mural project, and the project is now moving into phase 2.

Phase 2 consists of the city issuing a request for mural artists to submit design proposals based upon the selected community concepts. The muralist awarded the contract will create the final design and install the mural.

The committee reviewing concept submissions were Councilor Jacob Cristelli, former Councilor Bethany Whipple-Boling and Durga. The top three submissions will receive awards: 1st place will receive $500 and their concept featured as the base design for the mural; 2nd place will receive $300 and 3rd place will receive $200.

Those selected won’t be announced until the final mural design is completed.

We received “great art submissions for the mural,” said Cristelli. “Lots of interesting ideas came from a wide range of ages and backgrounds. A lot of thought went into picking the winners we thought were best.”

To view the submissions, visit https://www.cityofelma.com/clerk-treasurer/page/public-mural-project.

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