Reading Gives You Wings Mural

About Diana

Diana passed away on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, after a months-long battle with acute myeloblastic leukemia. Youth in the community knew and loved Diana as “the Library Lady” from her work at HCPL and the Corydon Elementary School library.

She joined the HCPL staff in August 2007 as a library assistant in the youth services department. Diana assisted in all capacities and started a teen program she called TAG (Teen Activity Group). Under her direction, the teens took over decorating the library for Christmas, worked the life-sized Candy Land program, had poetry readings, and more. Diana became the youth services manager in 2018 and guided the department into video programming during the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to continue to reach the community while the library was closed. She was instrumental in getting Tyson Foods involved in the Winter Reading Challenge, dubbing the program “Read to Feed Harrison County.” That effort continued to grow each year with other generous donors such as Duke Energy and Harrison REMC. She carried the brunt of moving the Summer Reading record-keeping to the Beanstack app.

Diana was a dedicated, hard-working employee, pitching in wherever needed, and working at local festivals and pop-up libraries. In January of 2023, she transitioned to an administrative assistant position where she worked tirelessly, taking on tasks such as digitizing historical library board meeting minutes, setting up and hosting receptions for library volunteers and retiring board members, working as a liaison between the Arts Alliance of Southern Indiana and the library to bring Shakespeare performances to Harrison County, handling the Water Step donation program and more.

Throughout her battle with leukemia, Diana remained positive, saying, “Today is a good day to have a good day.” Her optimistic spirit and servant heart made a lasting impact on her co-workers, the library and her community.

Why a Mural?

Diana’s husband, Andy Lasky, understood that family members, friends, co-workers, and the community would want to channel their grief over the loss of Diana into a positive remembrance, and he chose to ask for donations to the Harrison County Public Library gift fund in her memory. He generously decided to match whatever amount was raised. While trying to determine how to utilize the funds in a manner that honored Diana’s legacy, Andy asked that a committee be formed to weigh options. In addition to the HCPL Director and Assistant Director, Alisa Burch and Jessica Stroud, he suggested that members of the youth services staff who worked closely with Diana for years be included on the committee. Youth Services Manager Eden Ransdell recruited Ann Allen and Savannah Wallace, youth services library assistants, to serve on the committee. The youth services staff brainstormed ideas, and when the committee met with Andy, they presented the idea of a butterfly mural and planting a pollinator and sensory garden to attract butterflies to the area.

Savannah Wallace said the idea for the butterfly mural was actually Diana’s vision. Savannah remembered Diana talking about wanting to use the butterfly mural at the library. Ann Allen explained that young children would enjoy seeing live butterflies and touching the sensory plants in the garden. Andy believed that Diana would have loved the idea of countless children standing in front of the wings and having their photo taken for years to come. Alisa cautioned that being part of the National Register of Historic Places would require the library to seek special permission to paint the mural.

Seeking an Artist and Permission

Andy immediately reached out to Main Street Coordinator Janelle Amy about the murals painted on the other buildings in downtown Corydon. Janelle shared the contact information for the artist Carrie Johns. Jessica Stroud reached out to Carrie. Meanwhile, Alisa emailed Laura Renwick from Indiana Landmarks, the Town of Corydon Historic Preservation Commission (CHPC) Advisor, about approval requirements. Ms. Renwick advised that, in addition to being on the National Register of Historic Places, the library is also within the Corydon Historic District, which meant that any exterior alterations would need to be reviewed and approved by the town’s Historic Preservation Commission. She included a link to the Town of Corydon Application for Certificate of Appropriateness.

Jessica heard back from artist Carrie Johns in late May of 2025. Carrie was interested in taking on the mural project. Carrie, Jessica, and Alisa met in early June to talk about the placement and size of the mural. Carrie sent Jessica a rendering of the mural, a cost estimate, and her completed section of the application by the end of June and Alisa applied for the certificate of appropriateness using Carrie’s suggestions.

HCPL staff members Steven Schifcar, Teresa Douglass, Jessica, and Alisa attended the August 5 CHPC meeting to ask for approval of the mural. After discussion and recommendations from Laura Renwick, the commission members approved the Certification of Appropriateness, with Commission Chair Adam Burkhardt noting these factors:

• It is not a commercial use but a memorial to a long-time, beloved employee.
• The brick on that side of the building is not original or historic, as it is from a mid-1980s addition and therefore is not as porous, so paint could be removed in the future without damaging the wall.
• It will not distract traffic because it is on a low traffic side street that is not very busy and does not face the historic square.
• Members of the commission requested that the mural include a memorialization of Diana.

The Painting

Artist Carrie Johns met with Jessica and Alisa on August 11 to discuss adding the memorialization of Diana to the mural design. She began work on the mural on August 14 and completed it with the addition of #hcplmural on August 21. People taking photos in front of the mural are asked to share them on social media using #hcplmural.

The Garden

Eden Ransdell and Steven Schifcar met with Jerry Kincaid from U.S. Lawns about beginning work on the pollinator garden on September 15. It was decided that Eden would design the garden and order native, non-invasive plants. Jerry’s crew pulled out the existing shrubs and plants in the area in front of the mural on September 18.

On October 22, Eden and members of the Harrison County Native Habitat Alliance planted the garden with bare-root native plants. More species will be added as the hibernating roots grow and fill in the space.

Dedication

Alisa Burch gave the greeting, followed by a speech on behalf of the family by Diana’s sister, Valerie Kursar. Their speeches are linked below. Following the dedication, attendees were invited to pose for a photograph in from of the new memorial. Click the arrows to scroll through the photo gallery.

Donors

Thank you to all the generous donors who made this project in memory of Diana possible.

Randy Spieth, Candace & Scott Hill, Ahliah Bratzler, Valerie J. Kursar, Philip Belcher, Gregory & Martha Byerley, Charles & Nancy Nolot, Marcia Ehlers, Betty Hughes, Bette Ruester, Jackie S. Fitch Pender, Sharon M. LaHue, Diana Dicus, Christine Pendleton, R.E, Beyl, Jessica Stroud, Joyce A. Fitch, Mindi L. Fitch, Tari & Jim Carpenter, Michelle & Jim Zemencik, Katie Gainey-West, Pam Bennett-Martin, JoAnn Spieth-Saylor, Lori Kitchelt, Suetta & Kenny Tingler, Alisa &  Kevin Burch, Carol Lasky, Susan, Nicholas & Diane, Dennis & Becky Faith and Kate & Daniel Harmon.