Reception for Mojo Rosa’s New Mural is Sept. 22

The new mural by Mackenzie Ellefson. Photo by Len Villano.

If you’ve driven through Egg Harbor recently, you may have noticed that the “roses” mural at Mojo Rosa’s has been replaced with a fresh and colorful design by Sevastopol High School senior Mackenzie Ellefson. The restaurant hosted a scholarship competition early this summer, and Ellefson’s design was chosen to give new life to the building’s exterior. For her efforts, she received a $2,000 scholarship to be used toward postsecondary education.

To celebrate the mural’s completion, Mojo Rosa’s owner, Kim Jensen, will host an artist’s reception Sept. 22, 4-6 pm, at the restaurant, with the presentation of Ellefson’s scholarship at 4:30 pm. The public is invited; food and refreshments will be served.

Ellefson is no stranger to the local art scene, but she had never worked on such a large scale before. 

“The biggest challenge was working solo for the majority of the project,” she said. “A big mural becomes a lot bigger when it’s just you. This was my first mural. It was so amazing to see my design brought to such a large scale. I’m so happy with the final result.”

Jensen is also pleased. “Asking for a student-artist seemed like a great way to introduce new talent to Door County in a big way, and it was also an opportunity to give back in the form of the scholarship.”

“We loved our previous mural, but it was time to replace it, and I was so glad to find new, young talent in our community and put her vision on our building. People are loving the new design – we’ve had lots of compliments on the color scheme. Folks seem to really love the beautiful blue hues.” 

Asked what her plans are for her scholarship, Ellefson said she’s applying to several UW schools this year and intends to study art education and become certified in American Sign Language.

To see more artwork by Ellefson this weekend, stop by the Women’s Fund of Door County’s ARTrageous benefit on Sept. 21 at Hidden Acres Farm, 11128 Beach Road in Sister Bay. The preview begins at 3 pm, and the sale begins at 4:15 pm. It will feature several pieces by Ellefson and many other local artists. See the separate ARTrageous benefit story.