BUTTE — If you’re a visual artist, you need a canvas to create your work, and in the heart of the historic district in Uptown Butte, an artist is using a century-old building as her canvas.
From the intersection of Main and Broadway, passersby may have spotted a giant arch of flowers popping out from the side of an old building as a 20-foot-tall rabbit reading a book rapidly takes shape on the exterior of the Isle of Books.
"I’m an oil painter so I work with a lot of washes," says Rachael Marjamaa, a Butte-based artist and muralist, as she stands on a bouncy painters' lift. She mimics how she has been making washes with acrylic masonry paint.
"Two parts of the rabbit have washes on them where I take a rag with a pigment and brush it on," says Marjamaa.
From the painter's lift about 40 feet above Broadway Street, one can see up close the many layers applied to the rabbit's furry face on the stucco wall. She and fellow artist Sean Keuch have been at work on the 25-by-25 foot mural since the beginning of September.
"Call me the flower man," says Keuch with a smile. This is his first mural but it's Marjamaa's third mural in Montana including a giant mural on one of Montana's oldest theaters located in Phillipsburg.
Keuch says Marjamaa is a great teacher and he praises her plan for the endeavor which is important when working at such a large scale. After all, it's not like you can periodically step across a studio space to inspect your work.
"I look at the plan that she has ... where the flowers go and I try to mimic her style while she’s working on the vines and the rabbit," says Keuch.
Inspired by her previous work in fiber art, as well as the architecture found Uptown and even the bygone designs of old wallpaper found inside many of Butte’s vacant buildings, Marjamaa says her creation is a nod to the Mining City’s past even as it celebrates the present.
"I think a lot of people who want to put murals in Uptown really care about the history and that's one thing I really hold close to my heart. I was born in Butte and that's one thing I was really careful about wanting to respect and making sure it would fit in," says Marjamaa.
Colors from around the historic district also heavily influence Marjamaa's mural. A bit of green that mimics the patina on the Finlen Hotel's roof is used in the vines around the rabbit while brick red, burnt yellows, and subtle blues dance through her florals.
"I just wanted to kind of mesh that all together with the colors I found from around Uptown to try and make it fit in with the historical district," says Marjamaa.
The mural is a privately funded project spearheaded by the fundraising efforts of Fran Doran, a resident of the historic district and art-lover. Doran helped secure $10,000 from various donors to bring the mural to fruition but Marjamaa says the project couldn’t have happened without the enthusiastic support of a group of people including Doran and the building‘s owner.
"We have so many blank walls here that could use a little beautification and it’s so important to encourage very talented artists to give them a pallet to put their beautiful work on," says Fran Doran.
She says Marjamaa was given free rein on the concept and design of the work. She says she and the donors are interested in supporting an artist's vision and not just having them recreate headframe motifs.
"I mean, who can do this?" asks Doran as she takes in the mural from her rooftop garden. "Why would you want to put a limitation on someone who has so much talent? This is fabulous. I mean, it's amazing what she's doing," says Doran.
Building owner Medellee Antonioli agrees. She says she was approached with the idea and immediately said yes.
Inside Antonioli's bookstore, two large paintings of Marjamaa's hang with the work of other local artists in an upstairs area that she says is dedicated to artists. The building was erected in the early 1900s and was used as a hotel and boarding house for most of its existence. Antonioli walks through the halls and points out art in the small rooms that once housed members of a circus that was passing through town. Tiny rooms with skylights show off the artwork.
Antonioli says she didn't try to influence Marjamaa's work.
"I hoped there would be a book in there, but I didn't ask for anything," says Antonioli.
To her delight, a book is represented and the rabbit form was also a delightful surprise. In her children's book section, she shows off an area where exposed brick pops through stucco wall. It resembles the form of a rabbit and with the added whiskers and an eye, one cannot un-see the rabbit once they spot it.
"It’s just such a pleasure to be able to do anything I can to help support the arts, especially here in Uptown Butte," says Antonioli.
