Local artist decorating Art Alley dumpster

Editor’s note: This version corrects the location of Art Alley.

Montana State University-Northern graphic design student LillieAnne Mecklenburg is working on her contribution to Havre's Art Alley, a sunflower mural on a large dumpster.

Mecklenburg's work, now in its final stretch, can be seen in the alley between Third and Fourth avenues and Second and Third streets on a large dumpster, one of many projects meant to bring the alley to life and draw people to downtown Havre.

All told, the mural has taken the better part of three months to reach its current state and Mecklenburg said she still has about 10 hours of work to complete the piece and two hours for finishing touches.

She said she finished painting the last of the sunflowers last weekend, but still needs to darken their centers, finish details on petals and repaint a few areas.

She said the project was delayed for a while due to a COVID-19 diagnosis, but she's back to work now.

Outside of the lost time, she said, the only difficulty created by the delay were some some large scratches in the paint that happened while she was away.

It's not exactly surprising, given how often the dumpster is used, she said, but also something she wasn't thrilled about.

Mecklenburg said she was approached for the project in her senior year of high school - she graduated from Havre High School last spring - and was happy to contribute to the project.

She said she presented four or five possible designs for the mural to the Havre Art and Beautification Committee, the organization primarily responsible for the art alley, wanting to give them a choice of theme but still maintain some creative control.

"I didn't want to just replicate someone else's mural. I wanted it to be my own," Mecklenburg said.

She said the sunflowers were not her favorite among the pictures she gave to the committee, but since beginning the project she has grown to like the design more and more.

"I put a lot of time and effort into it, a lot of heart and soul. ... As I've worked on, it I've fallen in love with the concept," she said.

Mecklenburg said she would love to contribute further to the alley, assuming the committee has something in her wheelhouse.

"I would love to contribute more to the art alley, it just depends on what they committee has in mind." she said. "... I imagine they have a lot of great things in store for the alley."

Art and Beautification Committee member Debbie Vandeberg said the purpose of the art alley was to beautify the area and create a pleasant space for people to visit, which Mecklenburg's project will help to do.

"Our vision was to attract some people to downtown, create some excitement and add some color," Vandeberg said.

She said the art alley was the brainchild of a group of Havreites that would eventually go on to become the Art and Beautification Committee, which now works under Downtown Havre Matters, and they've been working on a number of projects around town.

She said the organization has worked on putting up signs at either end of town along U.S. Highway 2, installing bike racks, the mural on Hill County Printing and now the art alley.

She said in April they partnered with the Hi-Line Art Council to create an event in the alley featuring live music and food, which was a great success and brought a fair bit of exposure to the alley.

As for the future, Vandeberg said, they've gotten permission from almost every business connected to the alley to paint their backdoors, and a few of those businesses have expressed an interest in more art for their businesses in the future.

She said they're also trying to put together a fall gathering in the alley, as well as a companion event for the Holiday Stroll this year.

Finally, Vandeberg said, they're also looking to create another art alley but they're still in the early stages of setting that up.

She said it's been and exciting time for them an she's hoping for more success in the future.