By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Far above the streets of Ellis, a giant mural depicting Ellis High School athletes is taking shape.
Dennis Schiel of Hays is working on his largest and what may be his last mural.
The Ellis mural, which is 35 by 65 feet, is on the side of a grain elevator that faces Washington Street in downtown Ellis.
Schiel, who has lived in Hays for 16 years, has painted murals across the area. He coordinated the downtown Hays Brush the Bricks mural project and personally painted four of the murals for that project.
• The three amigos mural on the S&W building
• The Arc mural on the Arc Thrift Store building
• The Hays postcard mural on the side of the Golden Q building
• The farmer and team mural on the side of the Midland Marketing building.
He also painted the mural on the north side of the Fox Theatre in Hays and the mural on the north side of the Hays VFW.
A mural Schiel painted depicting famous people and places in the state hangs in the Kansas capitol.
Schiel said he hopes he has left an artistic legacy in the community.
Schiel's grandchildren attended Ellis High School, which sparked the idea for his latest mural. EHS wrote grants, and the Ellis Foundation raised funds to support the mural.
Although Schiel said he has tried to keep most of the athletes generic, one of the softball players is loosely based on his granddaughter. The mural also depicts a train crashing out of the grain elevator. EHS' mascot is the Railroaders.
Schiel has been working on the mural for about a month. He is in the process of moving to Colorado to be closer to family and may not be able to finish the mural until mid-summer.
Schiel, 65, said he would likely continue to paint smaller works, but the mural in Ellis may be his last mural. He said it is becoming harder to stand on ladders and scaffolding for long periods of time to paint large outdoor paintings.
"It's bittersweet," he said. "It's good that it's a fun one because it's a lot of whatever I want to paint.
"It's the end of a career," he added.
Schiel said he thought the community is enjoying seeing the mural take shape.
Schiel said he is looking forward to spending time with his grandchildren in Colorado. A former Colorado resident and Rockies fan, he hopes to attend some baseball games when he moves back. He did some artwork for the Rockies earlier in his career.
"Kansas, I've liked Kansas. I hate to lose Kansas, to leave here. Some things have to be," he said.
He added, "Thank you, Hays and Kansas."
Other Schiel projects
Ellis Railroad Museum improvements almost complete; murals finished
Cut, Shave and a beer: Blue Moon Lounge set to open Monday in Hays
