Sue Watson of Town Artist is creating a new hand-drawn cartoon map of Alexandria, highlighting local businesses and landmarks.
Watson creates cartoon maps of cities and towns all over the country. Municipalities typically hire Watson, who owns the company, to do the artwork, but once or twice a year, she said she makes maps of local towns as a way of giving back to the community.
Watson has designed maps for Northern Kentucky cities like Newport, Fort Thomas, Cold Spring and Florence. The last map she designed for Alexandria was in 2011.
Watson said she has drawn 300 to 400 maps in her years at Town Artist.
“I talk to every business that I know about, I create the map, I deliver the map,” Watson said. “The purpose is to lift up local businesses and make people aware of what’s here. Spend their money here. It’s kind of a labor of love.”
She said everybody who appears on the map chips in. There are different sizes and price points, depending on how large each business wants its building and sign to appear on the map. There is no cost to the city.
“It’s all hand-drawn,” Watson said. “So it is their [business] building, their location, the logos are computer-generated. A lot of the owners like to be on the map, so there are characters of the owners.”
If residents want a physical copy of the map, they can most likely grab one around town for free. Each business on the map will receive 300 copies to hand out for free. Watson said the city, local library and local schools will also receive copies to give away.
“I think they’re really neat,” said Alexandria City Councilmember Stacey Graus. “When you see them, if you look at them 10, 15 years in between, they’re a lot different.”
Council member Michael McGrath said he has the 2011 version hanging on his freezer.
The map will be 13 inches by 19 inches, and Watson said space will be limited, so she will start by approaching the businesses that appeared on the original 2011 map. She said that Alexandria City Clerk Stephanie Tarter also gave her a list of city businesses.
“You don’t have to have a brick and mortar, if you serve the people of Alexandria, we can do a billboard, we can do a vehicle, we can do a hot air balloon,” Watson said.
After the map is drawn and delivered around Alexandria, there will also be an online version, which can be found here when it’s complete. Watson said she is hoping to have the map in hand by June.