Walldogs Tour – Our 2020 Experience

In June 2019, the Keene Walldogs murals were painted in just one weekend by the world-renowned group of 200 painters. The 16 vintage style murals depict important historic events of Keene and were voted on by the people of the community.

Our GSAs had the opportunity to participate in a tour in July 2019 to see the results of this magical weekend.  It was such a good tour – we had to go back!

In mid-September 2020, following COVID-19 regulations, we participated in a tour given by Alan Rumrill, the director of the Historical Society of Cheshire County.  We stopped at each mural, with the exception of the one at Keene State College.  At each stop, Alan gave an informative description of the background of the mural.  Listening to Alan’s background and viewing the colorful depictions was engaging and enjoyable!

Here’s what some of our GSAs had to say about the tour:

“The murals, the day, and Keene were all beautiful.  When I got home, I spent a fair amount of time researching Catharine Fiske and Jennie B Powers.  A testament to the importance of the art and the rich history of Keene.”

“I had no idea there were historic murals painted on various buildings in Keene.  The paintings were amazing to look at, but hearing the history of each mural made the paintings real to me. Alan’s histories and pictures of the people in each mural brought them alive and I found myself wanting to dig deeper into their life stories.”

“The tour of the Keene Walldogs Murals was most interesting and educational.  Not expecting to see anything familiar, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Kingsbury tools originated in Keene, NH!”

“Even though I had watched the video that documented the whole process of selecting the subjects and creating the murals, your stories about the people honored on them provided an in-depth background that added so, so much.  I loved hearing those stories, and experiencing that snapshot history of Keene.  It’s such a great collection of art and history which I’ll be sure to mention to visitors I meet at the various Welcome Centers where I volunteer.”