New mural adds color to Wahoo’s downtown landscape

WAHOO, Neb. —

Wahoo has some new colors in the downtown landscape.

It’s a 120-foot-long mural off the corner of Fifth and Maple Streets, and it helps welcome people to the downtown area.

“It’s going to be seen by a lot of people, enjoyed by a lot of people for a long time,” said Greg Hohl, the president of the Wahoo Community Foundation.

The mural is the first project of the newly formed Wahoo Arts Council.

“There’s been a lot of, like, artistic things happening in the community all along, but it’s been really fun to kind of bring those under one umbrella,” said Council President Kathryn Nygren.

Nygren says they were inspired to bring a mural to Wahoo after seeing art in nearby communities.

“If we didn’t have any sort of artistic stuff in town, it would just be a kind of a concrete jungle with buildings and cars. And I think it just, like, softens the edges and makes the community really welcoming,” said Nygren.

Nygren says there was a clear choice when choosing an artist: Taryn Janke grew up in Saunders County and teaches art in Stanton.

“They wanted it big, they wanted something to be a showstopper… they brought it in and I’m like, ‘Okay, we can work with this,'” said Janke.

Her design features Wahoo landmarks like a caboose, the courthouse, and a burning bush– a nod to Wahoo’s past and present.

“Wahoo is the indigenous word for burning bush, and so that’s represented here, and foxes, we’ve got so many foxes kind of running around town, it’s kind of like a little joke,” said Nygren.

Janke spent nearly a month painting, and she says even before the mural was completed, the response was awesome.

“They’ve had so many good comments. They’ve brought me food and water while I was working on it. I mean, it just also shows the community that they have,” said Janke.

Janke wants the art to be a source of inspiration for the community and her family.

“I have two little girls, and I want them to know that they can do anything they can, especially in the art world,” said Janke.

Now that the mural is completed, Nygren says the next step for the Wahoo Arts Council is finding out what their next big project is going to be in Wahoo.