A mural depicting pioneers on the Oregon Trail will be unveiled soon at the Keizer Heritage Museum.
The mural, titled The Big Move, was recently completed by local artist Brigitte Miller. The unveiling ceremony tentatively is scheduled for Friday, July 12. Time to be determined.
The mural is a part of a renovation project underway at the Heritage Museum with two more additions coming soon. The museum is at the Keizer Cultural Center.
The mural, which took around 60 hours to finish, depicts the journey of Thomas Dove Keizur, the city’s namesake, as he crossed the country, starting in Missouri in May 1843.
Miller noted the mural was a group effort.
“Some of the volunteers from the museum and the art gallery helped with the research and gave me ideas on the stops that are represented in the mural as well as the design,” Miller stated.
The mural displays significant locations Keizur stopped at on his journey and also acts as a calendar, recording what month he arrived at each location.
According to Miller, her goal was to highlight the difficult journey people made to come to Oregon.
“I spent a lot of time researching the Oregon Trail sites that would be the most well known even in our present time and were on Keizurs’ route, like Fort Vancouver and Chimney Rock,” Miller said.
A Salemite since 1994, Miller has already made her mark many times upon the community as an artist.
A self-described creative, she started her career as a commercial freelance decorative artist, creating window advertisements.
Contact Quinn Stoddard
[email protected] or 503-390-1051
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