When it’s time for the Menomonie festival Let’s Paint the Town in 2022, one University of Wisconsin-Stout student’s colorful design will shine.
A logo designed by Natalie Shofner, a junior graphic design and interactive media major from Hastings, Minn., was picked by a mural committee to represent the event scheduled July 22-23. The logo will be featured on merchandise and publicity materials.
Let’s Paint the Town celebrates downtown Menomonie and will include business sales, a flea market, a juried art market, car show and live music.
A few new downtown murals are also expected to be painted for the event, according to Menomonie Mural Committee Chair Sylvia Gegenbach, who owns Town and Country Antiques. The event is being organized by the committee, Downtown Menomonie, the Greater Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Menomonie and the Dunn County Tourism Board.
The City of Menomonie held a competition to decide on a logo for the upcoming summer event ‘Paint the Town’, when murals will be installed around Menomonie for campus and the community to enjoy. Each of the finalists was a Stout student. 
UW-Stout students were sought to make the logo to bring the city together with the university, said Cynthia Bland, professor of art and art history and a member of the committee.
“We wanted to get students involved in Let’s Paint the Town and encourage faculty and staff to volunteer,” Bland said.
Shofner said her inspiration for the logo design came from the UW-Stout Clock Tower because she enjoys hearing the bells when she is on or near campus. “It is a reminder of how lucky I am to be in such a challenging program,” Shofner said. “I am very proud of what I have learned in the graphic design program at Stout.”
The logo shows the city’s downtown skyline with the colors red, purple, green and blue around it.
Shofner, who was awarded $200, entered for the challenge of the contest and also to add the logo to her portfolio.
