COLDWATER, MI — A new mural now welcomes drivers to downtown, covering the back wall of DNS Auto at the southwest corner of Pearl and Division streets.
Toledo muralist Dean Davis transformed a blank wall into a vibrant display of flowers, color, and symbolism during the Canadian fire smoke emergency.
Titled “Mosaic in Bloom,” the mural on the south wall at 48 Division St.on Old US 27 offers a colorful welcome to visitors entering downtown from the south.
The DDA commissioned the mural for $9,000 as part of the community’s downtown arts initiative, supported by a $16,000 Michigan Arts matching grant for murals and sculptures.
Main Street Director Kristen Johnson said, “We have mostly positive feedback so far from the community, and it’s a really nice addition for people coming in from that side of town.”
Johnson noted that Davis incorporated meaningful symbols into the artwork.
“Some of those little symbols that you see within the art are Arabic, and they mean love, honesty, gratitude, just really words of joy,” Johnson said.
The mural is located just four blocks from the Coldwater Mosque.
Johnson was impressed by how quickly the project came together.
Dean completed the massive mural in just three days, working with spray paint in the early mornings and late evenings.
Access limitations led Davis to adjust the design and reduce the mural’s size, as he could not access the adjacent roof to cover the entire wall.
Viewers have largely not noticed the adjustment.
Davis is well known in northwest Ohio as the founder of Toledo’s 100 Mural Project, which has transformed city walls into large-scale public art installations celebrating local history and neighborhood identity.
Dean operates River Gallery Studio in downtown Toledo and was the lead artist behind the landmark Glass City River Wall grain silo murals along the Maumee River.
Dean did not return calls for an interview about his work.
The downtown arts initiative plans to add one more mural this year.
Final approvals are pending for a 37-foot-long by 8-foot-wide mural depicting the North Chain of Lakes for the middle of S. Monroe Street.
Contact Don Reid, dReid@USATodayCo.Com
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater’s latest downtown mural is up on 48 S. Division St.
Reporting by Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter / Coldwater Daily Reporter
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By Don Reid, Coldwater Daily Reporter | USA TODAY Network
