Christopher Santer makes big strides on Parkersburg floodwall mural

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Significant progress has been made on the Parkersburg floodwall mural.

Over the past two weeks, the floodwall has gone from a blank canvas to a sprawling 20 by 160 foot depiction of mountains at sunset. It may be an impressive size now but that’s only the first section of the painting. There will eventually be a giant piece of sheet music with the first few notes of Take Me Home Country Roads and a section showcasing Parkersburg’s historic sixth street train trestle. There will also be panels depicting historical Parkersburg scenes that more artists will contribute to.

The muralist behind the art actually grew up in Parkersburg and attended Parkersburg catholic.

Christopher Santer remembers begging his parents to pull to the side of the road on trips to the mountains so that he could take in the scenery.

“I view this area - really Parkersburg is one of the gateways to West Virginia. You come in here. You come across the bridge and I wanted this to speak for not only Parkersburg but to what the West Virginia experience and beauty is and that’s definitely why I chose the mountain part of it,” he said.

Santer is based in Minnesota but is excited to be back home.

He said, “To be able to come back and do this for my home town is a great honor - a great thrill.”

Santer estimates that his work on the mural, not including the panels other artists will add to, could be finished in two more summers.

Students and teachers from Parkersburg South and Parkersburg Catholic have helped Santer with the mural.

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