VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO) — There are now at least a half-dozen murals gracing the walls of businesses in downtown Vermillion, with the newest now in its final stages.

When Cafe Brule co-owner Jim Waters was approached about the prospect of having a mural painted on the side of the business, he jumped at the chance.

“We’ve wanted to do a mural for like, the past 11 years,” Waters said. “We said, ‘Lets go for it!'”

Waters said that he and fellow co-owner Monica Iverson met with the artists and Mural On The Wall group multiple times to consider designs. “We loved all the designs they came up with, so we said, ‘Hey, looks great to us. How can we help?'” recalled Waters.

The building-turned-canvas has been around since 1891, Iverson said, noting that this is not the first time the building has been painted on, though it is the first time you might call it art.

Iverson showed us old photos of the building hanging on the walls of the cafe. “On the side it used to say ‘Creamery’ and ‘We fix carriages — carriage repair,'” she recalled. “It was never pretty,” Waters added.

Overall, Waters says he’s loved the process of having the building turned into a piece of art. “Working with the mural group was fantastic — they’re great people,” he said. “It’s just amazing how many people in the community have expressed appreciation of the mural.”

The community has also been able to get involved, whether it’s been through the lending of things such as scaffolding or by taking part in the painting itself.

The mural is a large one. “Their whole intention was to use up a big portion of the wall,” said Iverson. “They had to work around windows — they actually created the design to work around the windows,” she added.

Asked about her favorite part of the new mural on her building, Iverson was unable to pick one aspect, but highlighted the hands, the colors and the horses — she added that the artists spent time studying live horses to more accurately portray the animals. “The whole piece is just magical in my opinion,” she said. “I think that’s the best word to describe it.”

KELOLAND News reached out to Reyna Hernandez, the lead artist on the project, but was unable to get in touch before the time of publishing.