Darlene Bender, formerly of Albion, designed and painted Albion's first mural, commissioned by the Albion S.T.A.R. Team.
Measuring 11-feet by 24-feet, the mural depicts scenes from an earlier era in Albion, and reminds one of an old-fashioned photo album.
Among the imagery is the Noble County Courthouse with a Ferris wheel in the foreground, surrounded by people attending a street fair. Another scene shows the Worden House, which stood where a gas station is now located on the northeast side of the square. Albion's depot is also pictured. Joining them is a rendition of the front cover of an Atwood Buggy Company catalog. The Albion Opera House, complete with a signboard advertising "The Lion and the Mouse," the Black Building, and the Bradley House complete the "album".
The mural was mounted on the west side of the historic Black's Building, located at the stoplight.
Bender studied commercial art at Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) and brought 20 years of mural painting experience to the project. Local funds were raised by the S.T.A.R. Team to match an Albion Facade Grant for a total production cost of of approximately $7,500.
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