To view a 3 minute video showing the painting of the West End Mural, click here (or click on the mural photo). You will need Real Player to view the video. Many thanks to the producer of the video, Stefan Einarson.


Mural Beautifies West End
The wall of Bangs Ambulance that faces Alternatives Drive-Thru lanes has been transformed with a fabulous mural, commissioned by Alternatives, in partnership with Bangs Ambulance. Artist Mary Beth Ihnken’s painting celebrates the historical significance of the West End in the early 1900s as the transportation hub for Ithaca and environs. The mural depicts the buildings of that era and various forms of transportation including trains, planes, horses, boats and other modes of transportation that helped create the Ithaca that we know today.

This mural was made possible in part with public funds from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County/NYS Council on the Arts Decentralization Program. It was also supported by Indivisible (www.indivisible.com). Indivisible is a project of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in partnership with the Center for Creative Photography at The University of Arizona, and is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. There are postcards available for the taking on our information table, photographs from the Indivisible Project.

Click images to enlarge.

Week 1

Mary Beth Ihnken, mural artist

Day 2, the wall is washed and primed

Week 2

Sketching out the mural

Week 3

Painting the creek...

The mural starts to emerge

Week 4

So fun to watch this mural go up!

...the hills are alive...(sing it)

Week 5

It's a plane, wait for the train!

Mary Beth is detail oriented.