Albert Lea residents have an opportunity to view art in the making this week at the South Office Plaza building on Broadway Avenue.

Through a Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council grant to local artist Susanne Crane, people will be able to watch as Crane paints a mural depicting Albert Lea’s historic opera star, Beatrice Bessesen.

When it’s completed, the mural will hang in downtown Albert Lea at the historic Bessesen Building, now known to many as the home of the Albert Lea Art Center.

Crane, who has created murals and other public art for the Rochester Civic Theatre and the city of Minneapolis, purchased the Bessesen Building from the Art Center three years ago.

She said she was inspired to paint the mural of Bessesen five years ago when she heard the romantic story behind the construction of the building. Bessesen’s husband built the opera house for his wife in 1916.

Bessesen, an internationally famous opera singer, was the belle of the royal German Opera Co. in Berlin and performed at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera, among others, Crane said. There are several buildings in downtown Albert Lea that somehow involve her or the name of Bessesen.

“It really catches my imagination that someone could be an international traveler and then live in Albert Lea,” Crane said. “She had a pioneering spirit — it’s just the fact that it can happen here and why not?

“I’d like people to know about her and realize things like that can happen here.”

In the mural, Bessesen will be surrounded by a border of vines, leaves and flowers and standing in front of forests and a theatrical stage. She will appear to sing and gesture downward.

Crane is going off of a black-and-white photograph for her painting. However, because it is not in color, she’s had to research Bessesen’s lineage to try to determine factors about her appearance, including her eye color. She has a whole binder full of information she’s researched about the woman and her building, and has even visited her gravesite.

In January she applied for the grant, and she found out she got it in April.

Crane said she’s already worked on the mural for about two weeks, and she anticipates it will probably take three more weeks to complete.

In addition to the public viewing day on Tuesday, people can also come by on Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m.

Crane said she is willing to educate people about the project, plus they can also watch her paint. The open house will provide an excellent destination for walkers and bikers, school groups and senior citizens, she noted.

“Art in a community has the ability to raise up the economy and the spirits of the people and generate new interest in a community from the outside,” she said. “That’s what we need.

“I want them to know that really cool things happen here and they can be a part of it.”

The grant funds came through the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, which gets its funding through the state arts board, Crane said. The grant required a public aspect.

The Home Depot of Albert Lea donated all of the paints.

The mural will be unveiled Aug. 29.

Crane who moved to Albert Lea in 2006, has worked diligently to bring attention to the downtown and to promote its revitalization. She has also been involved with bringing Artspace Projects Inc. to the city.

She originally planned to paint the mural and have public viewing at the Freeborn National Bank Building; however, her request to use the building for the project was denied by the Albert Lea City Council in a tie vote.

The day after the vote, the owners of the South Office Plaza building at 908 S. Broadway Ave. told her she could utilize that building.