Ottawa artist completes agriculture mural

OTTAWA – Bruce Stowe's artistic hand can be seen in the heart of downtown Ottawa. Stowe has completed a third mural in Putnam County's county seat. His most recent work is located on the north wall of the Ottawa Feed and Grain building, facing the 100 block of East Main Street. It celebrates the agricultural heritage of Northwest Ohio. "I thought we needed to do something lifting up agriculture there because, I mean, let's face it, that's what put us on the map," he said. The mural measures about 96 feet in length and is between 10 and 12 feet in height. The scene features a farm family, animals, crops and an Allis-Chalmers tractor. "So basically what I did were the main crops, kind of highlighted them, corn, wheat, soybeans," he said. "I threw some tomatoes in there, too, because we're doing a lot of tomatoes." He said one of the biggest contributors to the project so far has been Hirzel Canning and Farms which has ties to Ottawa and Putnam County. "Most of the tomatoes that are grown in the county go to their plant," he said. "I even put a tomato picker in (the mural)." A milk cow, hog, chicken and standard race horse are included as well. "There's the sunrise or sunset," said Stowe. "I tell people whatever you want to take it as because it's facing north." This is not the first time Stowe, 71, has beautified Main Street. He and fellow artist Oscar Velasquez completed a celebration of progress on the side of the Heringhaus Furniture building in 2009, which honors the 175th anniversary of the village's founding. It lies just east of the new mural. To the west is the Rex mural. Stowe painted the side of the Putnam County Community Thrift Store in 2019 to showcase what life looked like between 1920-50,, along that same block, during the heyday of the former Rex Theatre in town. He said the blank concrete brick wall between the two mural had intrigued him since Paul's Ace Hardware was demolished in 2015 due to flood damage. "It was just a blank wall. There were some other artists thinking about it, but they never did anything," said Stowe. Last year, he talked to the board of Ottawa Feed and Grain which owns the building, and members approved his idea. Work started in March with fundraising for the project which he estimated at $15,000. Stowe said normally a mural like this would be closer to $20,000-$25,000. A GoFundMe page was started which has raised close to $8,000, said Stowe, adding that a fundraising committee is still at work and encouraging donations. Also helping with the mural are funds left to him for public works by his younger sister, Mary Jane Stowe. She died in 2015. "So I'm trying to get as much as I can from GoFundMe, and what I don't get will come from the fund she left," he explained. "I'd like to leave as much as I can for other works." Active work on the mural in July, said Stowe. Benji Barnes with Ottawa Boy Scout Troop 224 coordinated a work crew to prep and apply primer to the wall as part of his Eagle Scout project. Stowe works in an impressionistic style and uses the best semi-gloss outdoors paint he can find for his murals. "I've talked to other artists, too. It will hold up, a mural outside in the weather. If you get 15 years out of it that's good," he said. Most of the painting was completed by October. "I still want to add a couple of things once the weather gets nice," said Stowe. "I want to put an eagle in somewhere. I have painted a lot of animals and endangered animals. Eagles were endangered when I was younger, but now we have several nesting couple in the county." He noted that the new Rex Pavilion stage is right in front of the mural, so some of it is hidden. "But I made it bright enough and put a lot of bold images in it that you can't help but notice it," he said. Stowe attracted attention while he was painting. He said the public often stopped by to comment and ask questions. "I even had a truck driver stop his truck and say, 'That's beautiful,'" he said. The three murals surround an open area where bands perform every Thursday night in the summer, a program of the cultural committee which promotes the village through a variety of cultural events and experiences. Donations to the mural project can also be sent to Stowe at 934 Defiance St., Ottawa, OH 45875.