Second Trail Mural Design Session is on Wednesday

Volunteers work on design suggestions for the Schuylkill River Trail mural planned for Riverfront Park at the session on March 7. The next session is planned for March 20 at ArtFusion 19464 at 341 Beech St.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area.
The creative juices were flowing when people drew objects found in nature during the first Schuylkill River Trail Mural Public Meeting.

A section of the trail will be transformed into a work of art through a community-involved project.

A trail mural being painted by volunteers.

Attendees of the March 7 meeting held at First Presbyterian Church learned more about the trail mural and participated in a hands-on art activity. People created drawings that may possibly be incorporated into the final mural design. 


The next and last public meeting about the trail mural will be held on Wednesday, March 20, at Art Fusion 19464, 341 Beech St. in Pottstown, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. All materials will be provided. 

The Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area in partnership with Art Fusion 19464 is seeking the community’s help to both contribute to the mural design and paint it on the trail. 

The mural will include varying shapes of nature and wildlife representations found throughout the Schuylkill River Watershed. The watershed is a land area which encompasses about 2,000 square miles and is the largest watershed that feeds into the Delaware River.

The art mural will celebrate the natural beauty of the watershed and help connect people to two significant resources within the region, the Schuylkill River and Schuylkill River Trail. 

After the community creates and submits their drawings to Schuylkill River Greenways, local artist Jody Wenzel will merge some of the publicly created designs with her own to create the final outline.

Volunteer artists with some of their trail mural design
suggestions from the March 7 session.

Wenzel is a retired Pottstown School District art teacher and an ambassador for the Schuylkill River Trail. She has crafted several art designs for Schuylkill River Greenways including all of the interpretive signs seen along the Pottstown RiverWalk, a trail located at Riverfront Park that connects to the Schuylkill River Trail for a 1-mile loop.  

Wenzel said incorporating art along the trail has several benefits. 

“It helps to engage new audiences,” she said. “It’s another approach to convey information in a way that’s visual and relatable.”

A public mural installation will be held on April 27 at Riverfront Park in Pottstown. The estimated 120-foot mural will be painted along the trail section in front of the pollinator garden and near the park’s amphitheater. 

Schuylkill River Greenways invites area residents and community groups to attend the installation and paint a section. Volunteers that want to paint the mural in April can sign up for a time slot on the event page at schuylkillriver.org/events/trail-mural-public-installation.


Community and school groups interested in participating on April 27 are asked to contact Le’Santha Naicker at lnaicker@schuylkillriver.org.

The Schuylkill River Trail mural is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and several generous individuals. For more information about the mural project, visit the Schuylkill River Greenways website at schuylkillriver.org or call 484-945-0200.

The Schuylkill River Greenways NHA is a non-profit organization with the mission of connecting residents, visitors and communities to the Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) by serving as a catalyst for civic engagement and economic development.