Paint-by-numbers: Local group transforms Gettysburg alley into a 'brain forest'

Every Saturday in August, Gettysburg residents can go in an alley behind Lincoln Square and be pleasantly surprised to find a group of people painting a mural. 

Waldo's & Company, a non-profit community art group, is painting a mural in the alley with a paint-by-numbers approach so that anyone can stop by, pick up a brush and help create the mural. 

"It feels like a fun opportunity for the community to come together in an art that's really approachable," said Becca Reitmeyer, a Waldo's & Company board member. "It's investing in this town and this place that we love."

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"I love how it's starting out in the warm colors and as you get deeper into the forest it gets into the cooler colors," said Chris Hartlaub, a board member. "So you can almost feel the experience of walking deeper into a forest even though you are just walking down our nice little alley here."  

When the mural is complete, it will be of a "brain forest," a pun on rain forest.

Because of the alley structure, one cannot back up enough to see the entire mural at once.

"I enjoy that we have almost different scenes and different plots along the length of it," said Chris Lower, a director at Waldo's & Company and designer of the mural. 

Participating in the mural and beautifying the alley helps people create a sense of pride in themselves and their neighborhood, Lower said. 

The paint was donated by Sherwin Williams, and so far about 30 people have come out to help paint the mural. 

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In order to paint on a building, Lower got permission from the owner, and he also had to check the historic preservation society since the building was un-painted.

This mural is the second paint-by-number mural that Waldo's & Company has painted in Gettysburg. The first is located at the firehouse.

Residents can go every Saturday in August (or however long it takes to paint the mural) in the alley behind 17 Lincoln Square from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to participate.

Sophie Kaplan is a reporter for the Evening Sun, follow her on Twitter @yofisofi.