Giant Highway Art
March 19, 2025
Launch the media gallery 1 playerFor years, a very large depiction of a little girl holding a shredded teddy bear, pouting next to a dalmatian, has stood next to Highway 30 south of Dunlap. Over time, this huge piece of roadside art became a recognizable landmark and brought a "welcome home" feeling to many.
More recently, due to its deteriorating state, the piece had to be disassembled. It is the goal of some local community members to get the piece recreated and reinstalled somewhere in the Dunlap area.
Here is a photo from the Dunlap Reporter in 1999:
Per an article in the Dunlap Reporter, 1997, by Butch Walker, it states:
“John [Cerney] (artist) said he used to be in the lettuce business with Richard Hein of Dunlap, and they are longtime friends. The field where the installation sits belongs to Richard’s father, Jerry Hein.” [This field is south of Dunlap on Hwy 30.]
“John decided he wanted to spread out and display his works more nationally and he got in touch with his old friend, Richard, who got John in contact with his father. ‘Aw, go ahead,’ John remembers Jerry Hein saying.”
When we reached out to John more recently, on March 18, 2025, here is what he said:
“People in Dunlap may have forgotten, but there was actually another mural on that same spot a few years prior to the 'Crying Little Girl' being placed there. In 1997, I persuaded my friend Richard Hein to get his dad to let me place a mural on his corn field. I wanted to display my cutout paintings in other places besides California. The attached photo shows Gerry and Lorene Hein standing in front of that mural....a domestic scene of a husband hanging a painting while his wife directs him...plus the family dog. I told Gerry that I would only place the mural there for a year or two, and then haul it back to California. I actually sold it to a frame shop in my hometown of Salinas, CA. Gerry was sad about the mural leaving, as it was becoming a landmark in the area. I thought, what the heck...I would leave the dog, but paint something else in the same spot where the husband was. I came up with the crying little girl, who is upset because the family dog has ripped her teddy bear to shreds. Whether it made sense or not, it just became a part of the landscape.”
“So, it was actually in 1999 when I came out to haul back the original mural and install the crying little girl. The Dalmatian was really too small in relation to the little girl, so if I were to paint another one, I would correct that, and probably have him/her hanging his head in shame!”
Here is what John had to say about the possibility of bringing this mural back to life:
“It would be great if it happens. The little girl who modeled for the painting is Lizzie, and she is thrilled at the prospect of the mural being resurrected. She's the daughter of good friends of mine, and she actually manages my website. She never came out to see the mural, but will do so if it comes back to life.”
Here is a photo of Lizzie the model, next to the 16’ tall art installation!
Lizzie is now 32 years old! As you can see, John used a different photo for the teddy bear.
John has now placed his work in 24 states – he believes 9 in Iowa alone.
https://www.johncerneymurals.com/
How to Donate:
Thanks to Mike "Space" Schwery leading the charge, community members have become more focused on reinstating this piece.
If this is a project that is near and dear to you, we encourage you to help us reach our goal of $5,000 to complete this project.
Donate using this GoFundMe link:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-revive-dunlaps-iconic-art-installation?attribution_id=sl:afcff685-3872-4140-bb89-d429bf61f448&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp13_t1-amp14_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=facebook
OR Mail a check to Dunlap Betterment Group / PO Box 33 / Dunlap, IA 51529
THANK YOU!