An artist pieces together Lansdale’s history — and future — in mosaic mural

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For more than half a decade, Roxanne Slemmer has spent her free hours cutting glass, grouting and guiding Lansdale community members in assembling, piece by piece, a sprawling, sparkling 55-foot mosaic on Main Street.

The mural, which Slemmer expects to be fully completed by the spring, is a testament to the history of the borough and her perseverance.

On the left side of the mosaic is a locomotive representing Lansdale’s birth in 1872 as a railroad crossroads established by train surveyor Philip Lansdale Fox (a fox in one corner also pays tribute to the founder). The historic freight house, still standing today, gleams silver. There’s the Jenkins Homestead, current home of the Lansdale Historical Society and the oldest homestead in the borough, and a silk factory that nods to Lansdale’s industrial past as a producer of silk stockings.

The past slowly gives way farther down the wall to the SEPTA Regional Rail train that now passes through the center of Lansdale, and favorite landmarks like the Kugel Ball and a park gazebo.

Slemmer consulted the Lansdale Historical Society when she was first sketching out the historical timeline for her project.

“Part of being an artist is telling a story,” Slemmer said, crediting her teaching experience with enabling her to dive into the borough’s history.

Some of the personal stories of the more than 200 community volunteers who have worked on the mosaic have also found their way into the tapestry: a fluffy white dog, Gracie, Slemmer’s constant companion, peers out from the shrubs, while an owl placed in a tree by volunteer and project supporter stands in memory of her spouse who passed away.

“It’s the kind of mural that you can really stand and look at on several different occasions and see different things,” Patricia Rieker, president of the Lansdale Historical Society, said.

Rieker said the visual timeline of Lansdale’s history is an important way to share the borough’s past with newcomers.

“Lansdale is a town that’s changing,” she said. “We’re really transforming over the years, and we have a population that’s joining us who doesn’t know much about the history of Lansdale. And so for them to be able to see this on the mural and then be curious about it and ask questions about what the old homestead is, and why is there an old train on the picture … it really helps to bring some of our newer residents into the whole picture of Lansdale.”

Lindsay Beuke, program coordinator for Discover Lansdale, said that the sense of unity the mural provides is more important now than ever to the growing borough, which boasts a population of close to 20,000 people.

“There was a big election season, and I think people so often maybe feel like they don’t have connections to their neighbors,” she said. “And when you see something like this mural, something that symbolizes your neighbor to the left, your neighbor to the right, your history, where you’re going in the future, I think that all you can do is smile and just feel pride in where you are and in your town.”

‘Dropping in to your creative center’

Slemmer, a teaching artist from Collegeville, where she still lives, has dedicated herself to creating art and sharing its joys with others. After her degrees in art education and fine art at Kutztown University, Slemmer sought work that expanded her artistic repertoire, whether that was construction so she could learn how to use power tools for sculptures, or working at a framing shop and making frames for her own paintings.

The artist, who is also a massage therapist, started the mural project in 2018, when her client, John Centanni, gave her permission to use the wall of a building he owned on Main Street to create a public artwork.

That space, called The Art Studio, now also serves as the hub for Slemmer’s community art classes.

Slemmer said she has enjoyed working with children and adults from local organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club, the North Penn Arts Alliance, the Greater Norristown Art League and Explorations Homeschool Co-op. She said she’s seen the impact making art can have on people of all ages and backgrounds.

“It’s the power of everything inside being able to come out and being on a canvas or some kind of substrate or a surface, for feeling better, right,” Slemmer said. “For healing, for just the joy of painting. When you have just paint in front of you on a palette knife and no direction, and you just get the lay paint down, that’s an amazing thing.”

But, making art is not always an easy process. As encouraging as she’s been with her numerous volunteers, Slemmer also has held the project itself to high standards. When the first steam engine mosaic didn’t work out, it was back to square one.

“You have to let go of a lot of baggage to start from a blank canvas or a blank page,” she said. “That’s part of the healing process of art really, right? That is you finding you, dropping in to your creative center. When I see that light bulb go off, that’s amazing …  And then everything they are kind of shows up right in front of them.”

Beuke, of Discover Lansdale, participated in the project with her son, Oliver, who volunteered as a member of Explorations Homeschool Co-op. She said she was “blown away” by Slemmer’s ability to offer the students guidelines and instruction while still allowing them to explore their own creativity.

“Roxanne had this vision, and I just think that that’s incredible, that she saw this from start to finish, understanding that she would need community help,” Beuke said.

Beuke said Slemmer and other local artists and art organizations — including Eclipse Center for Creative Community, 365 Foundation and Headway Art Collective — are helping to revitalize the borough economically and culturally.

“I’m so thankful for people like Roxanne, because she’s beautifying that kind of gateway to Lansdale,” she said.

Slemmer said the six-year journey has been an adventure in “serendipity.” Devon Tile & Design Studio and Colors of Glass in Audubon donated materials, while Centanni and Slemmer’s longtime supporter Robin Laminhaute pitched in to help cover costs and promote the work. Slemmer also received financial support from J&J Pharmaceuticals and Thrivent Financial, and a core group of women volunteers have also contributed their time and energy to the project.

“Everything that I needed, just somehow somebody would show up, and it would show up exactly the way I needed it,” she said. “That’s really when you know you’re doing what you came here to do, you know, like, that’s what I should be doing on the planet, bringing community together, making art.”

Slemmer carefully selected materials to ensure the mosaic will endure through freeze and thaw for decades — maybe even centuries — to come.

“I think what really sums it up is when you walk around the corner and there’s a child standing there and somebody’s taking a picture,” Slemmer said. “Because they really just want the memory of that being there, that kind of says it all for me.”

You can check out the mosaic mural at 135 E. Main St. in Lansdale. Slemmer hopes to hold a dedication ceremony in the spring.