It’ll be hard to miss seeing Big Lake’s past and present as one crosses over from Monticello to Big Lake along Hwy. 25 heading north.

In a little over two weeks, Allison Hunsley has completed her mural painting on the side of the building of Third Rail Bar and Grill in Big Lake.

Hunsley began the process last year when the owners of Third Rail, Terry and Lolli Krueger, and crusader George Quinn approached Allison with the idea of painting the 1,000+ square foot surface of the south side of the building. Hunsley obliged with a tremendous draft sketch depicting the modern era of Big Lake contrasting with its past. 

The original artwork included a BNSF engine, the front of the Third Rail, the Holiday Gas Station, the American Legion seal, a fisherman, a hot air balloon promoting Spud Fest, some sunflowers and a bi-plane sailing across the top with a “welcome to Big Lake” banner tailing it.

Much of Hunsley’s original artwork carried over to the mural with the exception of citing existing establishments (with one exception). She also included some hockey players, some soldiers, an American Flag, a couple sailboats and the old school house.

The mural project was introduced to the city a year ago by Quinn and hit a few snags that delayed the start up of the project. The Big Lake Planning Dept. had reservations for the mural project, telling Quinn the art was a “sign” and would require a Conditional Use Permit and a variance. Quinn suggested the business names be removed, but the city planners still told him the artwork was considered a sign and was subject to current city code.

Eventually, city code was changed and the project was green lighted for this spring.

Hunsley, who is originally from Albertville, now lives in San Diego and has been busy honing her craft with mural projects ever since she completed her first one at the Second Hand Rose store in Buffalo in 2018. Before that, Hunsley was awarded a scholarship to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. After high school, she went to the University of Minnesota for two and a half years for product design but left after becoming too busy with art commissions.

When Allison is not painting, you’ll probably find her rock climbing, planning her next big project, exploring new places around the U.S., or wandering with a camera in hand capturing every moment.

Hunsley commenced the project with a kit of 200 cans of Montana Gold spray paint and a couple lifts to get her past the power lines and all the way to the top of the wall. Quinn and a few other helpers had already primed the wall for the painting and Hunsley used mathematics and a projector to get her little drawing proportionately depicted on the building’s wall.

“The paint should be good for years and years with no fading or peeling,” Hunsley says. 

Hunsley told the building owners that she suggests they include a graffiti-proof sealant to ensure the art doesn’t get ruined through the years. During her two week stint, Hunsley did all the work on her own except for one day when she asked her grandfather to help her reach a couple spots too high for her to attain.

“This project began a certain way then started changing as I went along,” she said. “ I wanted to keep the gist of the original artwork but some things had to go while some things had to be more prominent.”

The weather was favorable for Hunsley during the two weeks of work.

“It’s been great weather-wise,” she said. “I’m grateful for that.”

Hunsley was also grateful for the Kruegers and for George Quinn, who made the project go smoother than she even imagined.

“The people I worked with on this project have been awesome,” Hunsley said. “They’ve been so nice to me and encouraged me as I went along.”

This was by far Allison’s largest project yet and despite having to head home soon for other projects on her docket, she will be returning to Minnesota later this year to do a mural at some apartment buildings in Minnetonka. Since starting her mural art business, Hunsley continues to field projects from all across the country.

“It’s a dream job,” she says.

One of her dreams is to do a mural in all 50 states. 

And Big Lake is charmed to have an original masterpiece from one of Minnesota’s shining star artists.