From "Broomcorn Capital of the World" to Old Order Amish: Murals and the "Art" of Placemaking in Arcola, Illinois.

In 2012, the city of Arcola, Illinois, commissioned a series of 15 "historic" murals as part of a broader community beautification project. Mural themes were chosen to showcase features of the city's settlement history and changing geographic patterns. This paper examines how Arcola's murals serve to represent the community by focusing on selected examples that portray the city's locational heritage and ethnicity. We also consider how murals, as a form of public art, can play a role in tourism development strategies and inform notions of connectivity, community memory, and placemaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]