A New Mural Made in Ely: The Sig Olson Mural Project with Nancy Scheibe and the Listening Point Foundation

Back in late April, I was in a meeting over coffee with fellow arts and culture organization employees. Our conversation, as it so often does, turned to new projects, new ideas, and new ways to make downtown Ely an engaging and vibrant place to be. 

That’s where I first learned about Nancy Scheibe’s project with the Listening Point Foundation to honor the legacy of Sigurd Olson by installing a mural of the Ely environmentalist as a welcoming landmark at the Western entry to town. 

We were amazed by Nancy’s dedication and the clear amount of time, thoughtfulness, and math that was going into the project. And how cool to have the finished mural hosted at the Dutchman Tree Services space at the old Babe’s Bait property! I thought it illustrated how eager so many of us are to be engaged in collaboration and participating in telling Ely’s stories. 

I was excited to hear more about the project and sign up for a volunteer painting slot when the opportunity arose. The next time I heard about the project, I received an email that gave an outline of their project budget and timeline. The piece that caught my eye was that Nancy planned on managing all 120 volunteer slots via her personal email. I thought about how many emails that would entail and winced a little. I reached out to offer collaboration by adding the Mural Painting to our registration system. In what feels like no time at all, every single painting opportunity was filled and I was trying to figure out how to create a waitlist across 20 volunteer sessions. 

Earlier this week, we had the opportunity to add our handiwork to the mural panels. 

Being there, in Nancy’s garage, seeing how much time went into designing the mural, fitting the design to the location, ensuring a good painting experience, and predicting the final touches needed for a beautiful final product and successful installation. 

The air quality was better than the previous week - good even. Nancy had fans going to keep us cool and the paint colors and numbers were incredibly user-friendly, even while huge in scale. We’re so grateful for Nancy’s artsmanship and vision. 

Thank you Nancy for putting your artistry and time toward such a beautiful community effort!

While Nancy is not alone in giving so much of herself to create participatory art in the community, this project is worthy of so much celebration!  

Volunteer painting wraps up this week and Nancy will spend August blending the colors and applying a protective weather safe coating so that the painting won’t fade. Come September, Nancy and the Listening Point Foundation will work with local contractors and Dutchman Tree Service to install the freestanding mural! 

Sigurd Olson was an environmentalist, writer, and teacher. He taught science at the Ely School district and wrote extensively about the importance of nature. He was instrumental in the drafting of the Wilderness Act of 1964, he served as president of the National Parks Association, he owned Border Lakes Outfitting in Ely, and published nine books. He cared deeply about the land and about the potential for wilderness to renew and nourish human souls. 

While we are born with curiosity and wonder and our early years full of the adventure they bring, I know such inherent joys are often lost. I also know that, being deep within us, their latent glow can be fanned to flame again by awareness and an open mind.

— Sigurd Olson, Listening Point