New mural unveiled in downtown Medford

A mural depicting a 1913 scene of the train depot in Medford was installed last week.

The mural is on the east side of the Borealis Wellness Clinic in downtown Medford. It represents the year when Dave Klinner’s great-grandparents first came to Medford. “They were farmers like most of the people,” Dave Klinner said. In 1913, his family moved all of their farming equipment and animals by rail from southern Wisconsin to Medford, where they settled on a farm on the south side of the city.

Donna and Dave Klinner became interested in commissioning a muralist to decorate the clinic owned by their son, Dr. Sam Klinner, nine months ago. They saw the murals in the northern part of the state and decided to bring one to Medford.

To get the process started, the Klinner family sought out Kelly Meredith of Butternut, the muralist behind many of the works they enjoyed in northern towns. Over the course of three months, Meredith painted the 12 feet by 64 feet mural on aluminum panels in her studio. 26 panels make up the entire mural.

“The mural is more of a nostalgic overview of a time period.” Meredith reflected on balancing historical facts with broader themes, “It is more of an homage to logging and farming.”

While the scene painted by Meredith is not strictly historical, it is largely inspired by the 1913 time period. “I went to see the [Medford Historical Society] to try to get some ideas from old photographs. Kelly, unbeknownst to me, went to the Historical Society to come with up some ideas as well. She did her homework,” Dave Klinner explained.

Already, the mural has drawn significant attention from Medford residents. In the future, the Klinner family would like to see that interest carry over to other projects downtown. “We are hoping some other people commission their own murals to help beautify the downtown,” Dave Klinner stated.