Highland Square resident and local artist Marissa McClellan began her Wednesday morning with a mission to do something beneficial to Highland Square in the wake of recent violence: Make art. “It improves our community and I am getting paid because I love art and I live here,” she said.
Councilperson Fran Wilson initially approached McClellan, both a member of the Art Bomb Brigade operated out of the Myers School of Art at the University of Akron and proprietor of her own art business – Sabertooth Arts Public – about improving the look of the concrete blocks installed by the City of Akron on West Market Street that runs from South Highland Avenue to the traffic signal at the Chipotle.
So, with the approval of the city, some financial assistance by way of the Highland Square Special Improvement District and the donation of supplies from January Wallpaper and Paint, McClellan primed the thirsty concrete blocks the night before and returned the very next morning to measure, stencil her forms, and begin painting.
The mini murals – 32 in total if counting both prominent flat faces of each of the 16 blocks – will feature alternating color fields of stripes in alternating patterns on one face and checkerboards on the others. In a similar vein, McCllelam noted that, “I just painted a safety village for the city of Twinsburg. It was so peaceful and nice. I love just doing pattern and color. Everyone can accept pattern and color.”
Support for the current project was heard from passersby, some of whom stopped to chat. One woman who was walking with a man and a dog past the Highland Square Branch Library exclaimed, “Yay! Thank you for painting those!”
McClellan is hoping to complete the project by the end of day June 25, although potential bad weather may hamper her efforts.
Beacon Journal staff photographer Andrew Dolph can be reached by phone at 330-289-6072, or by email at adolph3@gannett.com. You can also find him on Instagram @dolphphoto.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Local artist transforms Highland Square barriers into mini murals
Reporting by Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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By Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
