Progress on the proposed downtown Orphan Train mural is continuing to chug along.

On Monday, members of the Dowagiac City Council approved a request from Dowagiac Area History Museum Director Steve Arseneau for increased grant funding from the Michigan Humanities Council. Initially asking for $12,100 from the agency in July, Arseneau bumped his request up to $14,725 — slightly below the maximum asking price of $15,000 — in order to account for project costs, which are higher than initially forecast, Arseneau said.

With the city’s approval, the grant funding should begin coming in soon, the museum director said.

Arseneau has worked with Cassopolis artist Ruth Andrews since last winter to help create a mural to paint on the concrete wall beneath the Dowagiac post office, which faces Pennsylvania Street.

Andrews, who first worked with Arseneau around 10 years ago for a mural in Cassopolis depicting the Kentucky Raid, approached the museum director about doing another historically themed piece for Dowagiac, this time about the famed Orphan Train. The city served as the first stop when the train made its initial trip in 1854.

With the recent development along Commercial Street — which includes space for future artwork — Arseneau felt a public mural would be a good compliment to it.

“I thought that wall would be a perfect place for it,” Arseneau said. “It should go well with that spot in town, especially once the rest of public art is installed.”

With Arseneau providing reference material to the artist, Andrews has been hard at work over the last several months coming up with sketches for the project. Arseneau expects painting on the project to begin in spring, wrapping up by the fall.

In the meantime, the museum director has been lining up events to coincide with the reveal of the mural.

In September, the museum will host a “rider reunion,” inviting descendants of the Orphan Train to visit the town to see the new mural. The following month, Beckwith Theatre Company will host a “youth voices” event, which will feature storytelling and music to teach the public more about the train and its impact on U.S. history.

“A lot of people are excited about the project,” he said. “They want to see us fill up that big, grey wall with something beautiful.”