Frazee Community Club plan comes to fruition

By Robert Williams

Editor

Two years ago, the Frazee Community Club board began a $100 club, accepting donations to do something for the city but without a real plan on what that was going to be.

“To do something in town, we weren’t sure,” said Frazee Area Community Club President Tom Watson. “Maybe a mural because of that wall.”

Despite cold temperatures and snowfall, visitors to downtown Frazee on Monday and Tuesday got the first glances of what the club helped create as professional muralist Lili Lennox and her brother-in-law Micah Lennox installed a beautiful four-panel mural on the side wall of the former Seip building and presently the post office.

Along with then-Community Club Vice President and Owner of Creating Community Consulting Karen Pifher, Watson decided to survey residents online in 2023 on what they would like to see in town. The club began to proceed based on those responses by forming a committee chaired by Shelly Blauert.

“Over 200 people shared their ideas, telling us what makes Frazee special,” said Pifher in an online post of a photo of the installed mural Tuesday afternoon. “Our talented muralist transformed your visions into a stunning work of art that celebrates what people love about our town. This project was 100 percent community-informed and community-funded, and we feel so blessed to have led it from start to finish. A special thank you to Shelly Blauert for taking over the reins and getting it to fruition!” 

Watson was also quick to credit Blauert for her efforts.

“And then Shelly Blauert took the bull by the horn,” he said.

The corner itself provided an obstacle by being 60-feet from state highway 87, a process that took two months and came with plenty of regulations like no words or numbers, etc.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) generally prohibits placing art directly in the highway right-of-way for safety, but allows approved public art donations via a formal application process, requiring it to be safe, non-advertising, not impede traffic/devices, and meet design standards, with specific rules for advertising devices on private land near highways, often requiring permits and prohibiting flashing lights or obstructions within certain distances, especially near interchanges.

“You can’t do this and you can’t do that,” said Watson.

After receiving MnDOT’s blessing, Blauert, an artist herself, sent out a request for proposals for the mural project. She received a handful in return from artists in Minnesota and around the country, as far away as Syracuse, New York.

“We sat down and Shelly picked Lili Lennox,” said Watson.

Lennox had already created a nearby installation in Park Rapids—a vibrant downtown mural on the building at 121 Main Avenue (Aunt Belle’s Confectionary) near the McDonald’s, featuring the four seasons and local activities.

“Shelly said she had done that and it’s unbelievable,” Watson said.

The project was awarded to Lennox and creating the mural began.

“Shelly provided a document with photos of the area and a priority of what they would like to see in a mural, so then it’s my job to take from the list and come up with some sort of composition that is visually successful that takes us from winter through all the seasons,” said Lennox.

Some things were mandatory like the covered bridge and the turkey, the Town Lake dock and snow activities in the area. Others ideas were more of a nod to the past, like a stack of cut wood as an homage to the former milling industry in Frazee and the canoe representing the indigenous culture. 

“My job is essentially to take from a person’s very lengthy list of what they want to see in a mural and how do I get it all in there or how do we get it down to a number of items,” said Lennox.

The process was relatively smooth as Lennox sent her first composition to the committee. From their feedback, Lennox sent her second proof and it was what is seen on the wall now.

“This is what came back,” said Watson.

“I’m just the one who comes to the table with experience of…do we have too many things?” said Lennox. “Is it best for what you’ve got here to really focus on three things and then we have some little easter eggs in there?”

Other must-haves were landscapes, which Lennox said made it an easier project and bright colors were also requested.

“That’s why the snow is in purple and then a big, orange tree and everything else is done in a lime green on the right side to provide the sense of the seasons through color,” said Lennox.

Seeing the installation come to life Tuesday brought memories back to the committee formation and doubts about if the project would ever come to life for Watson.

“We started the $100 club and wanted 100 donations so we had 10-grand,” he said.

Despite the funding, because of other big projects going on in Frazee, Watson was not at all assured that the mural project would be one to be completed. 

“Look what’s going on in this small town…Wannigan Park, the pickleball courts and I told Karen, we’ve got too much stuff going on here,” Watson said. “Boy, did she prove me wrong.”

“A huge thank you to everyone who contributed their voice, time, and support—this mural is yours!” said Pifher.

Lennox does many murals per year and on her end she wants to do something that is exciting to create. 

“On this one, instead of keeping it a full rectangle we decided to cut out the scene on the top so that when it sits against the wall there’s this nice frame and the treeline really stands out,” she said. “To bring your eye up we have some geese that are flying in the sky as separate pieces. There are also a couple cut outs on the bottom of the mural to help break that line. I do a lot of murals that are rectangles and sometimes you can get a little creative and break out of that shape. That’s what’s great about murals…there are no rules.”

Watson heaped praise on Lennox and her art, along with Pifher’s Creating Community Consulting for bringing the project to Frazee. He also acknowledged Pifher’s contributions to Frazee over the past half-decade.

“It all started with CornerStone,” he said. “Isn’t it funny, even me, everybody said, ‘no way that’s going to work.’ Now…wow!”

Watson’s belief in Pifher grew as the two worked together in the Frazee Community Club.

“We did a lot of stuff together and she used to tell me we have other cities and towns that are coming up to look at this (CornerStone),” said Watson. “Not everybody has a Mackenzie either.” – a nod to CornerStone Executive Director Mackenzie Hamm.

“She’s an amazing woman,” said Watson. “Right now, this is an exciting time to be a part of Frazee. There is a lot of good stuff going on.”

The latest is Lennox’s mural—a project she called 80 percent fun and 20 percent work.

“It’s a good ratio,” Lennox said. “The painting is fun. The designing is fun. Interacting with the clients and cities and seeing the reactions of people is fun. Micah gets the 20 percent drilling holes into the wall when it’s 14 degrees.”

Lennox has a 24-foot studio at home and she worked on the mural two to three panels at a time.

“I never saw this as one full piece until putting it up,” she said. “So that was kind of a nice surprise.”

The Frazee mural installation was delayed to December as Lennox was completing a giant mural for the Hastings Civic Arena. Hastings is hosting the 20th annual Hockey Day Minnesota in January. The mural features a 16-foot tall hockey player and 100-feet of other creations.

Lennox has a growing collection of both indoor and outdoor murals—showcasing her range as a visual artist in paints.

“The other great thing about murals is they can be any style,” said Lennox. 

Another interesting aspect of Frazee’s mural is the perspective of viewing it from up close or at a distance. The closer you get the more details pop out of the painting.

“This one is fun because it’s a combination of graphics—the trees in the background are just lines but then you have the trees in the middle which are much more realistic, or heading in that direction, and then you have the foreground with individual leaves.”

After Frazee, Lili’s next mural is on a 9×23-foot canvas to be installed in an office building. To see more of her work visit lililennox.com/

To join the Frazee Area Community Club and help bring more projects like this to town visit https://www.frazeecommunityclub.com/