A semiquincentennial collage created by Altoona Area High School students under guidance of an art teacher and the school’s artist in residence aims to offset that divisiveness in keeping with those student’s wishes, using an image of national unity from 164 years ago, according to the artist in residence, Deb Bunnell.

Attached to the exposed side wall of the Cooper building on 11th Avenue, the collage as a whole consists of iconic local images, but at the center are portraits of President Abraham

Lincoln and then-Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew Curtin, leaders of a conference in Altoona during which the northern Civil War governors provided unified support for Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — a critical show of cohesiveness in the context of the nation’s greatest rupture.

The mural was painted with acrylic on three connected alumalite panels that comprise a board eight feet tall and 12 feet wide.

The Cooper Building, located 1318 11th Ave. in downtown Altoona, features an 8-foot by 12-foot "Altoona 250" mural. This public art piece showcases the rich history and cultural heritage of the area, providing a visual celebration of the city. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The panels consist of thin aluminum sheets sandwiching a waffle grid of plastic.

The board is attached at the top via an aluminum angle iron to a horizontal two-by-four bolted to the brick wall, and at the sides via angle irons screwed to the board and the wall, according to Bunnell and JJ Colombo, son of building owner Jimmy Colombo.

Art Education Director Kristin Miller of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art broached the idea of the mural with Bunnell, who contacted high school art teacher Kathryn Curry.

About 60 students from three separate art classes participated in the project, which lasted about 2¢ months, Bunnell said.

There were various levels of student interest, some of it influenced by busy end-of-year schedules, Bunnell said.

A closeup detail of the downtown Altoona mural shows the inspiration photo of 1940s women that students incorporated into the completed project, with the Gable’s Building in its heyday in the background. Courtesy photo

Some “dedicated kids helped to pull it to the finish,” Bunnell said.

In addition to the images of Lincoln and Curtin, the collage consists of images of Gable’s in its heyday; 1940s women who might have shopped at Gable’s; the Mishler Theater; a Leap-The-Dips car full of happy riders; a can of Benzel’s Bretzels; a Mallo Cup in vintage wrapper; the K-4 locomotive; the Altoona mountain lion; Baker Mansion; a pair of Revolutionary soldiers who might have been stationed at Fort Roberdeau; and a panoramic view of the Horseshoe Curve from the top of the mountain at the apex of the curve.

The students collectively chose the images; and their arrangement on the panels; Bunnell sketched the images on an iPad, then brought them back to the group; the students critiqued what she had done, resulting in some adjustments.

The students had good design ideas that led to repositioning the image of the Curve, she said.

The students also had definite ideas about color.

The Cooper Building, located 1318 11th Ave. in downtown Altoona, features an 8-foot by 12-foot “Altoona 250” mural. This public art piece showcases the rich history and cultural heritage of the area, providing a visual celebration of the city. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

They suggested more muted colors than were first proposed for the women shoppers — a suggestion that helped the whole collage to “flow better,” while also catching tones from the sky in pleasing fashion, Bunnell said.

After deciding on the design of the collage and on the colors, the group transferred the sketches of the individual images to the alumalite panels.

Many students helped paint broad areas of a single color, while certain students who were comfortable with close work painted in the more detailed areas.

Normally, the transfer of sketched images to the finished surface would have been done by projecting those images onto that surface, then tracing the images onto the surface.

But because of projector trouble and an inability to get the alumalite panels to stand flat against a wall, Bunnell instead had giant copies of the sketches made at a copy shop, after which they were placed on top of graphite paper atop the panels, then traced.

A detail of the Cooper Building mural shows iconic scenes and items from Altoona history. Courtesy photo

Everyone participated in filling in the colors.

The Lincoln and Curtin portraits weren’t the initial choices for representing unity.

One student suggested the image of a disembodied handshake, while another suggested an image of two individuals from opposing political parties shaking hands.

Not satisfied with those ideas, Bunnell asked local historian Jared Frederick, who spoke of the Governors’ Conference — an important area event that was nevertheless underappreciated.

She did a Google search and found an image of the Logan House, where the conference took place, but thought it looked uninteresting.

She found the portraits of Lincoln and Curtin on a document published on the 100th anniversary

of the conference.

The document was for sale on Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage items.

Some students were intimidated by the task of helping with the mural, and ended up surprising themselves at what they were capable of, including fine, detailed work, Bunnell said.

One girl in particular took pride in painting the intricate design of the portrait frames, she said.

It was unfortunate that the timing of the project forced leaders “to cram it in at the end of the school year,” Bunnell said.

John Rita, cousin of Cooper building owner Jimmy Colombo, supervised the work of connecting the three panels and to one another, then attaching the three-panel board to the wall.

The job was the work of eight men, with four on the ground lifting the board to three men on a scaffold, according to a video of the mounting.

The Cooper Building was chosen because several years ago, Rita told Bunnell that Colombo would be open to a mural detailing local history on the building’s north side wall.

Bunnell reconfirmed that old tip by calling Rita, who secured Colombo’s assent.

“We immediately said yes,” according to JJ Colombo, Jimmy’s son. “We feel like it’s a great ornament to have on the building to promote downtown Altoona, American history and Altoona history.”

SAMA and the Altoona Area School District Foundation shared the cost of the project.

Rita and Columbo donated their time and the time of Colombo’s workers to install the board, Bunnell said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.