Two public works of art are now completed in Jefferson.

The newest mural is on the alleyway side of ShineOn Design/More Time on the north side of the downtown square. Artist Roger Aegerter just finished his second mural, with the first one being behind the Jefferson Realty/Mid-Iowa Insurance building with “Eyes on Washington.” Aegerter explains the mural includes geometric shapes and different shades of colors. He describes the unique backstory to how his newest mural got its name “Blue Moon.”

“We got basically done and Deb McGinn (Tower View Team Chair) just to see how I was doing and she noticed the blue round thing that had kind of like a starlight coming from it. She says, ‘Oh it looks like a blue moon.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s the name of it. We’ll call it the ‘Blue Moon.’” I just kind of wanted to add color. Color is always kind of a good thing to show stuff off or to catch people’s attention.”     

The mural used leftover paint from a Paint Iowa Beautiful grant from last year. 

The other artwork is the next edition of the rooftop art with the Peony restaurant entitled “Blue Bird” that features a blue bird surrounded by different kinds of flowers. Blue Bird was done by artist Dana Harrison. The project was made possible with covid funds through an Iowa Arts Council grant.