New mural coming to downtown Rochester

(ABC 6 News) – The City of Rochester, along with Destination Medical Center, has been on a mission to improve and revitalize downtown Rochester, and now the pair has partnered with a local artist for a new mural in the area.

The mural, being painted on the side of the Mayo Civic Center Ramp, is for the annual Destination Medical Center meeting. This year’s location and mural centering around growth.

“Those dollars roll over in our community time and time again. Arts create jobs, they attract investment, they attract tourism, they create confidence in a community,” said Dep. City Administrator Cindy Steinhauser.

City officials and DMC chose this location to symbolize growth, with local artist Jenna Whiting creating the piece. Throughout the creation of the mural Whiting said she talked with so many people walking by, and said it was really making an impact on the community.

“It was evoking a lot of meaning a feeling behind it. We were communicating with different residents that had been living here their entire lives. And they’re just excited to see their town changing in a way that’s more beautiful more open and more free for them,” said Whiting.

The artist said she got her inspiration for the mural from some of the native flowers to the Rochester area, and plans to add a few secrets and surprises into mural.

The official unveiling is Thursday at 4 p.m.