The Mahanay Bell Tower allows for art to be found in surprising places – on the rooftops of downtown Jefferson. Visitors can view the art by riding the elevator to the Paul Nally Observation Deck to view the scenic countryside but also find the unique art found on rooftops.
A local artist, Nicole Friess-Schilling painted “Wild Woman on the Roof” on her business, Prairie Blue Creative Arts. Nicole experimented with painting directly on the roof using just several colors on the black roof before the Bell Tower Festival of 2016.
The second piece was designed, painted and adhered to the roof by the Tower View Team members. It is a combination of four quilt squares painted on sheets of aluminum. The name is “Patches of Greene” since each recognizable square represents important aspects of Greene County – railroad crossing, card trick, antique tile and whirling windmill. This installation was completed on the roof of the former Homestead Coffee in May of 2017.
The third installation was added in May of 2018. Lee & Sheryl Sloan worked with local artist Curt Nelson to design a piece of artwork that portrayed Sheri’s love for music. He designed “Music Straight From the Heart” and painted it directly on the rooftop of the Sloan’s building in the Columbian Block of downtown Jefferson.
Local artist, Stephanie Hammond created her piece called “Renewed Dreams” located on the top of her parent’s business, Skeeter Creek Fabricators Art & Antiques. This first piece is now in the process of being retired with only one piece of that installation remaining.
A fourth piece was completed by artist Tony Sims of Middle of Nowhere studio in Dana. The rooftop selected was Unger Insurance on Lincoln Way. It is called Spaceman with a nod to Paton’s native son Loren Shriver who is an astronaut.
