Next month, a Simpsons mural will be installed in downtown Springfield, giving the town a chance to finally claim the longest-running scripted television series as its own.
The city of Springfield has spent years working with 20th Century Fox pitching idea after idea with little success, according to Niel Laudati, the city’s community relations manager.
“We went through several ideas: fan festivals, parades, pop-up stores in downtown Springfield, and then this mural idea was presented to them and they liked it,” said Laudati.
With 20th Century Fox’s green light and an approved image from the show’s creator Matt Groening, the City of Springfield began receiving pitches from across the country from artists eager to get their hands on the project. A pitch from a former Duck football player, Erik Nicolaisen, who uniquely also holds a fine arts degree took the cake.
Erik Nicolaisen, alongside a team of talented artist which he insists is are due all the credit, will be covering the Emerald Arts Center in downtown Springfield starting September 21. Nicolaisen and his team at Old City Artists is set to finish the entire mural in a three day time period, closing their work on September 24. Their work is described by Laudati as “miraculous” as he emphasizes the efficiency of each project. Nicolaisen, however, has his own point of view.
“I just think it’s a really cool project to be involved in. Most of what we do is like Tibetan Sand Painting, you know, where they do this amazing piece and it goes away in two or four weeks. The impermanence of what we do, you know, we can’t get away from it. So to do a permanent piece in Oregon and with somebody like Matt Groening is a really cool project to be involved with,” says Nicolaisen.
UO student Walter Demitree is looking forward to the mural.
“I grew up loving the show so I’m excited to see Springfield getting their name out there as the true inspiration for the show,” he said.
The honor is not being taken lightly by the City of Springfield either. The project will end on September 25 with a revealing ceremony that will be presented by Yeardley Smith, who voices Lisa on the show. As for the days leading up to the ceremony, there will also be the chance for those interested in Nicolaisen’s work to stop by and watch him and his team create their masterpiece.
According to Laudati, The City of Springfield will be the first Springfield in the country granted privilege by 20th Century Fox to display a mural honoring the longest running scripted show in television history, The Simpsons.
As for those more interested in the genius himself, Groening told Rolling Stone that he plans to sneak up in the night to sign the mural merely adding another reason for the public to keep an eye on the masterpiece from beginning to end.