New wayfinding signs in Jasper, Ferdinand and Huntingburg are the focus of a Visit Dubois County project to elevate the tourist experience. Of the 19 new signs, 16 installations feature local artwork on the opposite sides for cross-traffic and foot-traffic viewing.
For example, the back of a sign in Huntingburg guiding tourists to attractions such as Market Street Park and League Stadium—where scenes from “A League of Their Own” were filmed—displays a mural that includes the Rockford Peaches.
Whitney Lubbers, executive director at Visit Dubois County, told Inside INdiana Business the multi-year initiative is a unique branding campaign.
“We don’t know of any other wayfinding signs that have artwork on the back. We feel pretty proud to be trailblazers and have this type of project come to fruition,” she said.
The Dubois County Community Foundation contributed $25,000 to the endeavor, which Lubbers said cost around $140,000. The new signage serves many purposes, including solidifying the worthiness of the county as a destination.
“We wanted people to see these signs and think of Dubois County in a positive light,” Lubbers said. “We are big enough and have enough amenities to have these signs.”
‘A great quality of place project’
Lubbers said refreshing the appearance of the wayfinding signs has been a component of Visit Dubois County’s strategic plan for some time. The tourism organization also wanted to add new attractions to the signs, such as the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center in Jasper.
“[The signs] were outdated a little bit. They were fading over time. We were having some issues with them turning slightly. That was the reason we needed to start from scratch,” said Lubbers. “And looking at the existing signs…there was nothing on the back of them. It’s just a blank obstruction. Then the idea happened, ‘Why don’t we put some artwork on them?’”
The Dubois County Community Foundation got involved with the project after Lubbers discussed the initiative with Nicole Lampert, the nonprofit’s community development and communications director.
“We’re always working together on ways to improve the community,” Lampert said. “The community foundation saw this as a great quality of place project.”
Lubbers said the signs were designed to guide tourists navigating the county while enhancing the installations for visitors and residents with art.
“We wanted to let [tourists] know where these attractions are, help them while they’re driving without having to look down on their phones, and make it an easy transition to get to the places that they would like to get to,” she said. “These signs have attractions that a visitor may not know about. So it’s also building awareness of the amenities that we have.”
The call for artists
In August, Visit Dubois County asked local artists to submit résumés and portfolios online or present examples in person to be considered for commissioned artwork.
“We didn’t want a vinyl recreation of artwork. We wanted them to be original art pieces. And, very importantly, by different artists who had a different feel and a different style,” said Lubbers. “It was a tough decision on which ones to choose. We had to narrow it down, and we did that mostly in-house. We each wrote down our top artists and compared them.”
The selected artists included Emily Colucci-Peak, Corie Eckerle, Kyle Eckert, Diane Elkins Wininger, Leah Diekhoff, Andrea Fleck, Carla Hall, Anna Hayden, Abby Laux, Adam Long, Taylor Mitchell, Samantha Pfaff, Laura Pommier, Jillian Tretter, Dylan Wathen and Elizabeth Wertman.
Diekhoff, whose artwork showcased the Spirit of Jasper train, was drawn to the initiative even though she hadn’t painted a mural since 2021.
“I had the chance to be a part of a project that would not just bring art and color to the community but also bring awareness to travelers of what we can offer,” she said in a statement.
Visit Dubois County supplied the 42” by 72” art panels and applied a sealant barrier on each piece for longevity. The artists were responsible for all other materials. Each artist was compensated $1,000 for their completed panel.
“The local artists did a fantastic job of helping express our community’s culture, our history and even some of our values that you’ll see reflected in the artwork,” Lampert said. “We love that this was a countywide project. As a community foundation, we try to hit all corners of the county, and we felt like this would make that impact.”
Installation and feedback
In January, the 16 wayfinding signs with artwork were installed in Jasper, Ferdinand and Huntingburg. Three other signs with no artwork were installed on traffic lights in February. Visit Dubois County partnered with Jasper-based 2 Sign Guys and the Indiana Department Of Transportation to complete the project.
“We had to meet with INDOT, and we had to gain those approvals, and they were wonderful to deal with,” said Lubbers. “They made sure we did things correctly, but they also made things very easy.”
Lubbers said the Dubois County Community Foundation helped speed up the project’s timeline. Before the nonprofit stepped in, Visit Dubois County planned to complete the front of the wayfinding signs in one year and the backside artistic components in another year.
“[The community foundation was] 100% behind our idea. They loved adding more cultural amenities to our county,” Lubbers said. “Without their partnership, we would not have been able to make that happen.”
Lubbers said community feedback has been positive and brought more awareness to the tourism organization’s mission.
“People may not have heard of Visit Dubois County or what we do for our county. We are focused on bringing visitors in and increasing our economic impact from outside dollars with people spending money.”
According to Eckerle, whose mural depicted a country sunset, creating a visual representation of the county was challenging but well worth the effort.
“As an art educator, I know the limiting factors to accessing art for our community. I thoroughly enjoy catching these pieces around the county and hope others get as excited about finding them, too,” she said in a statement.