By John Weare, Keep Alliance Beautiful
ALLIANCE, Neb. - Public art has brightened the community from creative crosswalks to alley murals throughout Alliance. Troop 216 scout Dracen Buschow coordinated the most recent effort for his Eagle Scout project with a tribute to the men and women who have served our country in the military.
Several weeks ago I dropped my son off to help paint frames at the VFW. When I picked him up, Dracen and his parents, Lisa and Chad, showed me the paintings and described how local artists made the vision come alive.
“I was creating a mural to put up at the Alliance VFW to honor the veterans of Box Butte County,” Dracen explained, adding the mural was going to consist of branches of the service. Although a mural honoring veterans was Dracen’s original idea, there were a few twists and turns on the way there. “I jumped around from idea to idea,” he said. “The original idea was to do different wars, so I decided to do branches of service so I’d have a broader topic that would connect to everyone.”
Scouts always tap sometimes latent leadership skills when completing an Eagle project. Dracen’s biggest challenge was commissioning artists that would donate their time to each create a unique vision of the scenes he had in mind. He presented the artists with 4x4 sheets of prime plywood and donated art supplies with which to work.
The project and its unveiling “went over well. (People) thought it was for auction – it looked that good,” Dracen said. Marine veterans saw their painting at the USMC birthday dinner Nov. 10. The rest of the paintings were presented the next day at the Veterans Day dinner.
“I gave recognition for the artists who could make it, so they could see the finished project,” Dracen said.
Although the paintings would honor local veterans wherever they are displayed, Dracen wanted to share them with the public and will place them outside at the VFW on Flack Avenue. Hanging them on the south fence and finishing the paperwork will complete the project.
“(My favorite) would probably be the final part when I got to see them for the first time – they were all jaw dropping,” Dracen said, while the most challenging was “finding the volunteers to pull it off.”