With the completion of the Big Four Bridge on both the Kentucky and Indiana sides, Louisville and Jeffersonville are more connected now than ever. If you haven’t been over to Jeffersonville, IN, it’s a quaint little town with a lot of hidden treasures. Jefferson Main Street Inc. is currently working to bring the project, Monumental Memories, to its downtown area this summer. They had received a grant from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and they are working with the Jeffersonville Urban Enterprise Association and the Jeffersonville Public Arts Commission to bring this proposal to life.
I spoke to Jay Ellis, Executive Director of Jeffersonville Main Street Inc., about the project, and the anticipated completion date is to be around mid-May. It will involve the installation of 12 enlarged photos on various buildings around Downtown Jeffersonville. Ellis explained that the goal is to bring a “sense of place in a historic district” through the combination of “revitalization and public art” as well as to increase the number of people visiting and moving to the area.
Ellis mentioned that they had organized a “photoshare” a few weeks ago, where anyone could bring their photos of Jeffersonville to contribute to the selection for this project. Libraries, the Clark County Museum, and many locals provided photos, and at the end of the day, they had selected 12 final photographs to use. This created a very “collaborative process with the local residents,” allowing them to be a part of their town’s decisions. Ellis emphasized that they wanted pictures that were good representations of Downtown Jeffersonville, especially those with people, transportation, and lost buildings- “lost architectural treasures.”
They are currently finalizing the locations for each mural. Some confirmed locations include: Benton Fine Jewelry (corner of Court Ave. and Pearl St.), Riverside Cigars (corner of Spring St. and Market St.), and the Red Yeti Brewing Company (corner of Spring St. and Chestnut St.). They’re hoping to place specific murals on specific buildings in order to “show a view of that streetscape from 50-60 years ago from that vantage point.”
As of now, the plan is to keep these murals up for 2 years and then replace them with new murals. Ellis said that this project will “give a sense of what’s original about Jeffersonville, of the community, and of authenticity.” Over the past year, Jeffersonville has had an increase in public art ventures, and in accordance with this trend,“this public art [mural] project will reflect Jeffersonville’s history” while contributing to the movement of creativity, art, and revitalization.
Photo Courtesy of Irena Tran
