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Episode 18 America's River Project

Artist Gary Olsen has produced a video on the creation of a painting commissioned by the Dubuque Rotary Club celebrating its 100th Anniversary and the 15th Anniversary of its commitment to the America's River Project.

The massive original painting displayed above was sold at auction, proceeds to benefit the Humanitarian Grant program of the Dubuque Rotary Club.

America's River began as a visionary and ambitious initiative to improve our city's riverfront which had been largely industrial for generations. Two Rotarians, Wayne Norman and Jerry Enzler, crafted the idea for a revitalization project based on the success of Mystic Seaport, the popular and historic tourist destination in Mystic, Connecticut, and pitched it to the members. With the Rotary Club's enthusiastic support, the idea grew to become one of the most successful civic improvement projects in the community's history. This early Rotary Club support for the project signaled the beginning of broad community buy-in as funds from several more sources grew to more than $40 million.

Gary Olsen, an artist for more than 40 years in Dubuque, is well known for his landscapes and cityscapes of Dubuque, Iowa and its surrounding countryside. Gary witnessed the evolution of Dubuque's riverfront that changed Dubuque's skyline forever. His celebratory painting features how much Dubuque's "front yard" has changed. Limited edition prints of the painting, signed and numbered by the artist, are available at several locations throughout the city and on the dubuquerotary.org website. Funds raised by the sale of these prints will benefit local Rotary Club Humanitarian Grants that are awarded non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the lives of others and making Dubuque a great place to live and raise families.