ABOVE: Caroline Porter works on a new lake-themed piece of art outside Graffiti Corner in Fairmont on Sunday. The city of Fairmont has partnered with artists from Imagine Martin to install unique pieces which are also educational.

FAIRMONT– The city of Fairmont’s public art project, which spreads a message of keeping the lakes clean, is taking off with the help of local arts non-profit, Imagine Martin. Several pieces have been completed around the community and the project is expected to wrap up with more art installations at LakeFest on Aug. 10.

Fairmont’s Water Resource Coordinator, Hannah Neusch, had wanted to do a project like this for several years and had the opportunity to launch it last fall thanks to a grant.

“We got an $8,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Health. That was specifically to install these public pieces of art that are also educational,” Neusch explained. “It catches people’s attention. They’re interested and learning at the same time about our natural resources and how to keep our waters cleaner.”

The initial piece, with a message of ‘the lake starts here,’ was installed on the sidewalk at the end of Downtown Plaza in front of the Spot on 3rd in September, 2024.

Soon after that, the city put out a call to other interested businesses to apply to be the site of a public art piece.

“We had money and we wanted to get these pieces done before August,” Neusch said, explaining that the money had to be spent by August, 2025.

A number of businesses sent in applications and Neusch said some didn’t work out because they weren’t visible enough or there wasn’t a good place to put a piece of art on.

“We would have really liked to install in every location but it didn’t work out. The ones that did work out, we moved forward with the planning process,” Neusch said.

American Legion Post 36 at 300 Downtown Plaza has a piece that was done on a fence at the back of the property.

“It’s very cool with an eagle on it,” Neusch said.

At Interlaken Heritage Days in June, artists from Imagine Martin were set up at Gomsrud Park working on a live art installation.

“That was cool because the people that were passing by got to paint a little. There were kids and people from the community that got to be a part of it,” Neusch said.

A new piece is being done by artist Caroline Porter at the entrance of Graffiti Corner. Porter, who is newer to the community, has jumped into the art scene and has developed an appreciation for the lakes.

“My husband and I used to live in Omaha. When we moved back to Minnesota, we loved how many lakes are here. It feels awesome to be next to water again,” Porter said.

When she heard the call for mural artists, she was interested and that interest only increased when she heard the pieces were supposed to be lake and water themed.

“I called double dibs,” Porter said with a laugh.

Her piece drew inspiration from a koi pond but features Minnesota-based fish including Northern Pike, sunnies, yellow perch and large mouth bass. It’s done in acrylic paint and will receive a clear coat to seal it.

Speaking of the project as a whole, Porter said, “it adds some splashes of color and brings awareness to the lakes.”

Neusch said that all of the pieces will lead to Lake Fest, which is where the bulk of the grant dollars will be spent. LakeFest is taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 10 at Amber Lake Park.

“I envision a lot of artists painting all at once with a great vibe. There will be food and a festive atmosphere but the heart and soul of the event is the art installation and live paintings,” Neusch explained.

As work was recently done by the dam there, Neusch said there’s a lot of new paintable space.

She also said that part of the grant has to be spent on painting a boat ramp so a large installation will be happening near the boat ramp at Amber Lake Park. The ramp will not be closed and the area will remain open to pedestrian traffic.

There is expected to be five to seven artists, if not more. More details of the event are coming together but Neusch is exited to see how it goes, especially considering it’s a new event.

Moving forward, she would like to see the event continue under new leadership.

“As far as events go, it’s difficult to get them up and running. I’m hoping now, with the new lakes management committee, that we’ll have a group that can step up to help with organizing this event year to year,” Neusch said.

Although the grant is done after this event, Neusch said the city does have some money budgeted for educational events that are water quality related.

“I’d like to see Fairmont celebrating the lakes in an event that’s just a lake-centered event,” Neusch said.