In 2020 the Starke County Community Foundation obtained a Lilly Endowment GIFT VII grant to support public art and science projects.  Among these was a student art project to design and paint a mural on a former Erie Railroad signal bungalow.  The bungalow is on the north side of what is now the Erie Trail and within easy walking distance east of the trail’s intersection with Starke County Road 200 East. 

 

Jacque Ryan, Director of Development for the County’s Community Foundation, chose for the project students Jordan Lozzi and Emma Whitcraft.  The Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, which owns the rail-banked property where the bungalow is located, gave its approval for the project.  In the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021 volunteers from the Prairie Trails Club and others cleared vegetation and rehabilitated the side of the bungalow facing the trail to serve as the canvas. 

 

During the challenging COVID summer of 2021, Jordan and Emma began the painting. In August 2022 they completed this creative project, and representatives of participating groups celebrated its completion.