These murals adorn the upper walls of the bank lobby and depict five central topics in the history of the Black Earth area: Farming, Youth, Nature, Elders, and the Village.
Artist: David Giffey
Once the BESB gave the go ahead in 1998, Giffey began his research. Resources for the mural included local residents, photographs, and historical references in addition to material from the Wisconsin Historical Society. Giffey chose five central topics for the mural. They are: Farming, Youth, Nature, Elders, and The Village. What follows are excerpts of Giffey's personal interpretation of the five topics covering the east and west walls of the lobby plus the north ceiling.
Farming (The west wall mural)
"The west wall mural refers to the original residents of Black Earth Valley. Ho Chunk people
grew crops... attracted here by the fertile farmland and the presence of Black Earth Creek. ... The mound builders constructed burial mounds including a large human-shaped mound The
'man mound' was said to be 750 feet long and [each arm was] 330 feet.
"The right side of the west wall is devoted to farming styles of European settlers In the distance, beyond rows of wheat shocks, are sets of farm buildings: one with a windmill from the early 201 century [and] next to it is a view from the creek of a modern dairy farm with Harvestore silos. The black earth was tilled by horse-drawn plows, ... Massey-Harris tractors, ... [and] today [the land] is worked with larger tractors having enclosed cabs."
Youth (First panel of north ceiling)
"The 'Youth' panel is devoted to children and schools. A female track star from the 1980's Wisconsin Heights High School hurdles across the top. Black Earth's outstanding baseball tradition is shown in its earliest stages along with a 1920's woman basketball player. Elementary school children are depicted along the bottom framed on either side by the 'second' (early 1900's) Black Earth School and the 1860 Black Earth School."
Nature (Middle panel of north ceiling)
"In the mural are shown images from nature [along the Black Earth Creek] including cattails, a damselfly, brown trout, milkweed, a Monarch [butterfly], raccoon, doe, fawn, oaks, prairie grass, golden rod, a heron, and its reflection. The phases of the moon in 22-carat gold leaf span the top of the 'Nature' panel."
Elders (Third panel of the north ceiling)
"This panel is crowned by thirty-six doves in flight, one for each of the thirty-six men from Black Earth who died in wars beginning with the Civil War. The oval portraits include historically prominent villagers: (Clockwise from lower left) Robert and Martha Gorst; Henry and Martha Wilson; Rev. J.N. Field; Ann and James Turk; Postmaster Thomas Barber; newspaper publisher Clarence Burnett; teacher Mrs. H.L. Hooker; and Patron Mercantile Coop manager Albertina Helling. The portraits surround stylized views of the many churches founded by Black Earth residents over the decades.
"Steam engine #513 awaits loading at the World War I era Black Earth train station. In an imaginary scene, Black Earth band members Art Gillette (trombone) and Anton Anderson (horn) serenade Thora Skalet (Gillette) as she proudly drives a 1929 Chevrolet. Gulbrand (Gilbert) Skalet and Peter Haisten are prepared for threshing wheat."
Village (The east wall mural)
"The creek accounted for the location of the old millpond and its turbine-powered machinery. Patron's Mercantile, the girls at the co-op, the Village Hall and bandstand, and the stanchion factory are shown. Another reminder of the participation of people from Black Earth in world conflicts is the old howitzer at the [Veterans] Park with WW I soldier Ervin Heiney standing at attention nearby. Portraits show four Black Earth men killed in WW II: Jerome Deneen, Maris Imlay, 'Darky' Schulenburg, and Joseph Wilkins.
"At right is a reference to the modern era bank, and its president Paul Skalet. The whimsical poem by Aaron Dana was written in 1871."
