Belle Plaine’s downtown area, as well as a large grain bin northeast of the city, are sporting new art work this week, thanks to the weekend work of more than two dozen visiting artists and local volunteers.

Four murals depicting some of the scenes Belle Plaine is known for were created and installed on walls of three downtown buildings and on a grain bin at the intersection of Highways 30 and 131 by a group of artists known as “The Walldogs.”

The artists, from as far as Colorado and Canada, arrived in the city Thursday night, guests of local residents. That night, Highway 21 near Seventh Avenue was blocked off for several hours as images of the designs, which the artists had created, were projected on to white panels. The artists meticulously traced the designs on the panels and on Friday, they went to work, turning the white pieces of metal into works of art.

All four of the murals were mounted on the walls of the Country Foods store, where the artists spent all day Friday and Saturday and a good deal of Sunday painting them Many passersby stopped to watch them at work. Several local artists volunteered their expertise and some school classes also stopped to observe and take up paint brushes to help with the work under the close supervision of the professionals.

One of the artists came from Boston and learned only on Monday that she would be coming to Iowa after another artists was forced to pull out of the project. She said this was only her second trip to Iowa. She had been a part of an earlier Walldog team in the state. She said she is also in charge of the lettering at Fenway Park.

“I have the park all to myself (when she is on the job),” she said. “So when I go to games there, I look around and wonder what all the people are doing there!”

By all accounts that was the mood of most of the visitors, who seemed to enjoy the Iowa hospitality and the unseasonably warm and dry weather. Installation of the murals went without a hitch on Sunday afternoon, except for the work at the round grain bin. That mural was installed Monday morning and the last bolt was driven just as the rain began to fall.

The City of Belle Plaine paid for the project as a part of its streetscape project.