Heritage Center Murals: Stop No. 7

The Story

The Harry B. Shearer Heritage Center is the pillar of operations for the Manheim Historical Society. Named after one of the founding members of the society, the Heritage Center gives members and the public the opportunity to explore Manheim’s past. Documents, pictures, deeds, newspaper clippings, atlases, artifacts, and much more can be found here, with knowledgeable staff ready to assist in your research.

The Heritage Center series of murals was an idea that was tossed around for a number of years before finally coming to fruition in 2025. Planning took about one year with multiple meetings taking place to hone the direction. In the end, six design concepts were chosen with each one illustrating a significant element of Manheim’s past.

Horst Arts Center of Manheim designed and painted the murals. Jason Horst designed the six pieces by first presenting rough sketches and then creating final designs that were mocked up onto a photo of the building for final approval—two on the northeast wall flanking the main entrance, and four on the southeast wall.

The six murals from right to left are titled, “The Survey,” “The Glass,” “The Rose,” “The Artisan,” “The Transport,” and “The Mansion.” They were completed in that order. Six video compilations are include below showing the creation of each panel. Due to the varying heights, different methods were used to transfer the designs onto the wall. Most were drawn using augmented reality, a method that uses two smart phones with one broadcasting a video feed (with the artwork overlaid) to a second phone that is held by the artist who watches themselves on screen tracing the image. Others used plotted coordinates to mark the main intersections of lines around which the rest of the elements were drawn freehand.

Horst Arts Center enlisted the help of various Manheim Central High School art students and an artist friend or two to help with the painting process. A special shout out to Aliyah White who spent many hours on this project.

In addition to the murals, the “Manheim Historical Society” name was painted in the marquee above the front entrance.

A ribbon cutting / open house will be happening this spring to celebrate the completion of these murals. Keep an eye out for the announcement!