Sigurd Olson was at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1954 when he noticed someone admiring a painting.

Olson gave a speech the following day, where he said: “There is no question about the intangible values of works of art. We have always recognized them. I was over in the Art Institute yesterday morning and saw a woman standing engrossed before a great painting. She stood there in reverence, her head bowed. I looked at her closely and in her eyes was a strange, happy light… She was catching something which inspired her as it has inspired many others. She was enjoying the intangible values in that particular work of art. Ask her what it was she saw and she might not be able to tell you, but it did affect her deeply, and that was all that mattered.”

A new work of art is taking shape in Ely, a mural greeting paddlers and others who arrive to the canoe capital of the world. Led by local artist Nancy Scheibe, throughout the summer a collection of volunteers will work on the 16-by-20-foot painting of Olson. The painting aspect of the project started just before the Fourth of July and will carry on through the summer. The current plan is to have the mural up by early to mid-September on the west side of town, across the street from the new Chamber of Commerce headquarters and new trail hub.

Nancy Scheibe works on the Sig Olson mural in Ely. Photo by Joe Friedrichs

Paddle & Portage media visited the site where the mural is being painted this summer. Scheibe greeted us and explained her connection to the Boundary Waters region, which trace back decades. She says it is “an honor” to be chosen to lead the project of creating the mural to honor Olson’s legacy.

Approximately 140 people signed up as volunteers to paint the mural this summer in Ely. The artwork is being done in a paint-by-number style. Volunteers will be coming from Chicago, Wisconsin, Duluth, and the Twin Cities to paint the mural this summer, along with many Ely residents.

In the painting, Sig is leaning on a canoe, his pack and paddle nearby. The watercraft Sig is leaning on in the painting is a Seliga canoe. Joe Seliga built his famed wood canvas canoes in Ely for about 60 years. Seligas have been cherished by generations, Northstar Canoes shares, thanks to their meticulous construction, classic hull shape, and beautiful recurved stems.

Draft of the upcoming Sig Olson mural. Image courtesy of Nancy Scheibe

The project is supported by the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust and the Listening Point Foundation, a nonprofit based in Ely. Click here to view our recent interview with the new director of the Listening Point Foundation.

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