ALAMOSA – Samantha Wisener of Alamosa is the painter creating a new mural in downtown Alamosa devoted to 1923-1933.
Featured in the mural is a depiction of the JC Penney store that was a retail fixture for over a century. Also depicted is the Isis Theater which was renamed the Grove Theater.
Wisener said, "The call for artists came out to put a mural together that commemorated 1923-1933 Alamosa. I knew it was going to be on this wall that is the old JC Penney Building. I tried to work with the existing windows to create a 1920's Alamosa where it is a look into Alamosa at that time. Penneys arrived in the 1920's and the Isis Theater was there at the time. I've shown that in blue. The buildings I have in purple and orange are also authentic.
"I will also have a storefront window where we have Easter eggs for people to look at and find out cool things about Alamosa and the world in the 1920s."
Wisener added she considers herself to be a painter, "and I have approached this as a big painting."
The mural is part of the 100-Year Mural Project sponsored by the Alamosa County Chamber of Commerce. Ten murals will represent a different decade of the past 100 years and showcase that period in time.
The murals will be included in the walking tour brochure and on the chamber website. The Valley Courier will have a weekly photographic update of this mural and the one across the street Bianca Maestas is creating.
Wisener expressed gratitude to her son Bryce Wisener for his assistance in the project and the help from the staff at Altitude Appliances. Samantha Wisener also teaches art at Ortega Middle School in Alamosa.
