The City of Minburn was home to a special unveiling on Wednesday.

Global Roots created a mosaic mural as part of their America Connects Nature’s Bloom Production, and Minburn is the first city in Iowa to have one. Canadian Artist Lewis Lavoie was in Minburn to reveal the mosaic mural he designed, and said he was happy to install one in a small town in Iowa because of the Heartland. Lavoie described that the mosaic mural is 12 feet high by 24 feet wide and features 2,500 individual tiles from people all over the world to outline a bigger design.

When standing at a distance, the mural displays a tree, which Lavoie shared that Covid was the inspiration for his pieces. He mentioned that during the pandemic, people were separated and he wanted to do something that could bring people together, and noted that trees have roots underground that connect to other trees, similar to how his designs are made from individual creations that make a bigger picture. Abby Smith is from southern Michigan and has a tile on the mural and traveled over six hours to Minburn, as she talked about her piece and how special it is to see it as a part of a spectacle.

“Mine has a branch with a cardinal and leaves. It’s pretty honestly, but it’s kind of just indescribable to be apart of a mural. It’s very neat.”

Neena Davis from Blair, Nebraska, has designed some tiles that are in other parts of the country.

“This is the third mural that I’ve been involved with. The first one I had one painting in, which was in Fort Morgan Colorado. The second one was in North Dakota, and I did three for that, and I did three for this one here in Iowa. It’s been wonderful.”

Minburn Community Betterment Group Member Megan Cline explained that she submitted an application for Minburn after seeing an advertisement online this past December. She also thanked the Dallas County Foundation, who donated $3,800 to contribute to bringing the mural to the community. The mural is located along Baker Street at Meek Park, across from the Minburn Fire Department.