Wall mural tells county government story; completes NACo headquarters renovation.
by Mary Ann Barton
senior staff writer

A recent renovation of NACo's offices included the installation of a colorful mural depicting the past, present and future of county government.

"What we wanted is when someone comes to our office, people will know we represent counties." said NACo Executive Director Larry Naake. "Before, the way it was, it could have been any association."

The mural was created by Woolwich, Maine artist John Gable who was assisted on the project by his wife, Bobbi. The four-and-a-half-foot by 40-foot mural depicts scenes of county courthouses from colonial times to the 1980's, as well as a futuristic look at the grand opening of a county park. Modes of travel are updated in each scene -- from horses and trains and cars to a space-age monorail, and cars and bicycles of the future.

"The mural is part of our millenium efforts because it shows not only the past, but the future," Naake said. (NACo is overseeing three millenium projects -- The New Century County, Counties Serve America and Counties Celebrate America.)

The untitled mural is an uncomplicated look at counties. "Because what counties do is so complicated, the mural was simplified," Gable said. "In essence, it's a visual indicator of change. My suggestion was that when county representatives come to NACo, they have their own agenda. We wanted this to be interesting and fun and not be so complicated that they would have to stand there for an hour to figure it out."

The courthouses depicted do not represent buildings in specific counties. "I wanted them to be somewhat generic so we wouldn't bring attention to to one county and not another," Gable said.

Gable and his wife researched different eras at the nearby Bowdoin College library. "We look for fashions and styles," he said. NACo also sent the artist a photo album of county courthouses.

Instead of painting directly on the wall, Gable painted the mural on canvas, using acrylic paints, so the mural can be moved if NACo ever relocates.

Gable created the mural working in a turn-of- the- century building converted into an 85-foot studio, with 14-foot ceilings, in Bath, near his home. "It's an ideal space to paint murals," he said.

He created the mural by first drawing small (about eight inches square) sketches with pencil. "It's a more intimate scale, where you can think it through," he said. He then captured them on slides and projected the drawings onto the canvas.

Mural style evokes WPA era

The style of the mural "in some ways emulates the WPA era," Gable said.

The Government's Works Progress Administration recognized the plight of artists and commissioned paintings and sculptures for newly constructed federal buildings, post offices and courthouses. In addition to providing work relief to artists, these New Deal initiatives produced the first major body of public American art.

above: two of 10 sections of NACo Headquarters mural.
click here to see more of this mural

Art consultant Sheryl Fiegel, president of Art Specialists, LC, suggested a mural for the NACo space because it would be reminiscent of an earlier time. "I went back to the background of 1935 (when NACo was founded) during the Depression," she said.

"WPA was one of the most important things to come from that," Fiegel said. "It gave employment to artists. Today, we're left with some real tangible results of murals from the WPA."

"In some ways," Gable said, "It's a flat and graphic style, not unlike that of Grant Wood. The style and timeframe led us in that direction."

From industrial designer to painter

Gable wasn't always a painter, he explains. "I'm an identical twin," he says. "Both of my grandfathers were doctors." He and his brother went to the University of Kentucky to study to become MDs. "But we both realized we weren't cut out to be doctors."

His brother earned a degree in chemistry ("he took the movie 'The Graduate' very seriously; he's in plastics," Gable jokes) while John majored in industrial design and went on to design cars (he worked on designs for the Firebird and the Seville for General Motors, where he got bumped up the ladder "to the point where you don't design so much, so I started painting."

"It was an easy evolution; I wasn't scared," he said. He began his new career in Maine, moving from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Since then, he's had many one-man shows in leading art galleries in New York and around New England, has exhibited his work with artist Andrew Wyeth and painted two official commemorations for America's Cup sailing victories.

"Lucky breaks have a lot to do with it," he said.