Ice House Mural

My name is Alexandra Moehagen, and I'm an artist living and working in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. As an artist, I have always been drawn to places that are extraordinary in some way. They were not those places owned by the rich and famous, nor those rare sights one would mark on a map, but rather simple places, stumbled upon, that somehow shifted my thinking. The "Ice House" in Chippewa Falls, was one such place.


As a child, I played in Irvine Park as though it was my private backyard. I ran through the trails and climbed the trees, and one day, I looked across the river and saw a tiny, run-down building on the other side. I ran up the bank of the river, trying to get a better look, believing that it was something magical. When I returned home, I asked my mother what it was, and she said, "The Ice House."

This local nickname is actually a misnomer. The building seen above was originally a frozen food locker, but because it was built upon the site of a former ice harvesting storage building, the locals kept on calling it "The Ice House." It was hit by a tornado in 1958 and has not been used in years. 

I revisited the site recently and was dismayed. Though the structure is still magical-- trees, shrubs, and flowers have grown up through the interior floor, and when they blossom in the spring, one can hardly see the walls. But the exterior has been marred by graffiti-- vulgar terms, slurs against the police, and plenty of drug references. When I saw this, I tried to imagine the view from across the river, just as I'd seen it years prior. The wonder was gone. Now, it was just a place for vandals to practice their craft. That made me angry. And then it made me inspired.

I spoke to both Mayor Gregg Hoffman and Director of the Parks and Recreation Department Dick Herbert and asked for permission to paint a mural on the Ice House. I asked this even though I know that next year the building will be demolished to make way for a new handicapped accessible fishing and recreation area. I asked, perhaps, BECAUSE I knew the building would soon vanish. 

And they said "Yes."

The proposed design, seen below, was approved at the beginning of May. This is a digital rendering; the final will be painted using a combination of spray paint and exterior latex. It has been placed to leave some of the original brick visible, but also cover the graffiti, especially the "F*** the Police" slur on the front.


The funds from this Go Fund Me campaign will be used to locally purchase the supplies and tools needed to complete the mural. If the goal is reached, I will be able to paint the front face of the building as well as the adjoining sides. I hope to begin work at the start of June 2016, and complete it within a month. Of course, this schedule is flexible, and may vary depending on supply availability and weather. 

For more information about me, including a full portfolio of both my personal and professional artwork, please visit my website: www.foxbones.com 

Please consider donating to this campaign. It is my hope and goal to not only cover the ugliness that this building has collected, but also to offer that same spark of magic and curiosity to a new generation-- those bright souls who, upon spying it from the other side of the river, cannot resist investigating further. And for me personally? It will mean the world to me to send this building off in a beautiful way, before it's gone for good.