'More Than A Drainage Ditch,' Mural Highlights Starkweather Creek

MADISON, WI—Those driving over the McCormick Bridge may not even notice Starkweather Creek underneath.

To bring awareness to the wildlife living in the creek and make it better suited for community use, Zach Johnson, a member of Eken Park Neighborhood Association, coordinated a public art project. In early June, Eken Park residents and painters from Dane Arts Mural Arts worked together to cover both sides of the bridge in a mural.

Every animal painted on the bridge is one that lives in the creek, including mink, muskrats and beavers (which Johnson said are way, way bigger than you would think) as well as native plants such as the Coneflowers. And picnic tables, an additional element to revamp the park, are covered in fish species that are native to the creek.

The basic idea of the mural is to give people a sense of the animals who live in the creek, with hopes that the art will make people more mindful of how they treat the environment.

“There’s a lot of things that are useful, but I think the big one is getting people to appreciate the nature that they live near and getting people to think of the creek as more than a drainage ditch,” Johnson said. “The creek was in Eken Park before anybody else was. It's important to keep in mind the city was built in something that wasn't always a city."

Those driving over the bridge will get a sense of what animals live beneath. Residents who live nearby were a part of the painting process, becoming involved in the wellbeing of the creek and surrounding park.

Johnson collaborated with Dane Arts Mural Arts, a nonprofit whose mission is to beautify spaces and engage communities through art. In early June, the lead artists from the nonprofit and Johnson set up tents and were joined by members of the neighborhood who swung by to help paint.

Since the project was completed about a month ago, Johnson said he has seen people sitting in the park, not a common sight previously. Living in the neighborhood for the past six years, Johnson said the area has always been a bit of an “eyesore.” The bridge was covered in old graffiti and the creek would fill up with trash.

“It's a lot of fun to show people who came to paint all of the different animals that are living in the creek and now there's a good reminder of it on the bridge,” Johnson said.

To fund the project, Eken Park Neighborhood Association received a grant from the city for roughly $3,000 to complete the project. The picnic tables were donated by Friends of the Starkweather Creekas a tribute to a member who passed away in 2020.

“Most people when they drive over, didn't even recognize that they were driving over a creek because the bridge kind of blends in with the road,” Johnson said. “So the idea was to kind of create a community event where people could come and participate in some form of art, where they were also learning about the creek and getting to know the creek.”