BEATRICE – If you’ve driven in downtown Beatrice along Ella Street, you’ve likely noticed the large mural in progress on a building wall. It’s off the southwest corner of 5th and Ella.

It’s a Main Street Beatrice commissioned project, and its being done by a local graduate. The artwork carries the words, “Beatrice, Site of America’s First Homestead”….and features a homesteader with a plow, a log cabin, clouds and the sun.

Sydney Saathoff has been creating the mural, and she was working on it over the Labor Day Holiday weekend. She’s a 2015 graduate of Southern High School in Wymore and earned a degree at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She works as a graphic design specialist for a Lincoln firm. We spoke with her from some distance, since she’s been up on scaffolding, working on the mural.

"I applied for it and I came up with a couple of design concepts, and then they chose this design."

Sydney says its her goal to have the project completed in a four-week period.

"It's a lot of work, though....it was super hot today. I took a break."

Saathoff says since she works full-time in graphic design, she’s been using evenings and weekends to create and paint the mural. Her aunt works at one of the businesses nearby. Saathoff says it’s the largest project she’s ever undertaken.