The City of Waterloo announced winners of its first ever Waterloo Mural Contest.

Waterloo Community Relations Coordinator Sarah Deutch said there were 16 total entries from 12 different artists.

The contest was created by the Waterloo Beautification Committee to provide a space for artists to share their talents, show how positive collaboration can work and use them to beautify a piece of the city. 

The goal is also to add another element to make Waterloo a destination location and bring more foot traffic into the area, which will positively impact the success of our local businesses, Deutch said.

“The Beautification Committee held a blind judging, meaning the judges only viewed the proposed design along with the artists’ description of their proposed mural design, without names or addresses,” she explained. “Contest rules stated that up to four finalists were to be chosen, but because there were so many incredible entries, five finalists were chosen instead.”

Winners of the mural contest are Lillian Roever (two entries), Emily Martin, Brad Keim and Gabe Drueke. 

Roever’s winning entries will appear on the Bountiful Blossoms building at 113 W. Mill Street and at JV’s Downtown Bar & Grill, 117 N. Main Street.

Martin’s entry will appear at Burris Management, 130 W. Mill Street. 

Keim’s entry will appear at Main Street Music, 108 N. Market Street.Drueke’s entry will appear at Hopskeller Brewing, 116 E. Third Street. 

Contest winners are awarded a prize of $500 each and will be reimbursed for materials/paint to install their mural. 

Murals will be installed this summer.“We congratulate the mural contest winners and thank all of the artists who submitted entries,” Deutch said. “We truly have some amazing talent in our community.”These new murals are in additional to several already installed in the downtown area in recent years.