Troutline
Project Type
Community Project - Mosaic
Year completed
2009
Dimensions
6’ x 18’
Client
Madison Bicentennial Festival
Location
Madison, IN
Troutline
While in the planning stages for the West Street Mural, I become a part of the thriving arts community of Madison, Indiana. 2009 marked the bicentennial of this historic town, and the community was planning a festival to celebrate. I volunteered to chair a committee for engaging art project that would become a permanent structure, leaving a lasting impact on the town. The resulting project became Troutline, a colorful tile mosaic on a concrete levee, overlooking the Ohio River.
The image used for the mosaic is based on a woodcut print by beloved local artist, Harlan Hubbard (1900-1988). This piece, also titled Troutline, depicts a version of life in the Ohio River Valley in mid-century America. It felt fitting to honor this artist’s legacy by bringing the community of Madison together to re-create this image. View the original woodcut and a quote about the artist below.
Participants of all ages were invited to help create this artwork. Tiling took place during the week of the Bicentennial Festival, and throughout the summer of 2009 on Mosaic Mondays.
“Harlan Hubbard chose a life away from the world of his time. He removed himself from 20th century industrial society to live a deliberately simple, self-sufficient life. He and his wife, Anna, built and traveled on a shanty boat down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. They lived in a home in Payne Hollow, Kentucky, overlooking the Ohio River, supporting themselves by growing and bartering for their food and other needs. Hubbard kept journals and was an accomplished writer and musician. He was an artist and produced many paintings of the themes, which ran through his life: the River with its steamboats and shanty boats, the hills, valleys, forests, fields and farmsteads of the Ohio Valley.”
- Bill Caddell