A new street mural project is coming to downtown Cleveland’s Gateway District.
The mural, to be completed in the large triangular area of Prospect Avenue and Huron Road from East 4th to East 9th Street, will bring temporary road closures over summer as artists and volunteers work to transform the streetscape.
Downtown Cleveland, Inc. hosted a community meeting April 23 for residents and other stakeholders to hear details on the project, meet the artist, and share their visions for the space. Organizers plan to host more community meetings soon.
Cleveland was one of 13 cities to receive $100,000 this year from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative to complete the mural.
Project manager Ian Meadows, of Downtown Cleveland, Inc., told attendees the area around the mural will soon be home to several upcoming development projects. This included a new health clinic, renovated apartments and the new Cosm Cleveland immersive experience and entertainment venue. The area is also part of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Shore-to-Core-to-Shore Initiative.
Meadows said the synergy between the various projects shows the Gateway District is where “arts, culture, commerce, recreation, athletics, residential, development, everything, you name it, that’s all converging right here,” making the area ripe for an art installation.
The goal is for the street mural to be the connective “tissue between all these different projects together,” he said.
Safety first
Research studies cited by presenters at the meeting suggest the street murals will also help to improve public safety.
Meadows explained the extra color in the road helps drivers pay better attention.
“When you have a large expanse of asphalt, it just appears that cars and drivers can go a lot faster because they don’t really have these perceived barriers or things that sort of catch their attention,” he said. “But when you have these large, colorful installations that sort of draw your focus over there…it causes drivers to pay more attention.”
Meadows cited an asphalt art safety study that showed a 50% decrease in crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists on roads painted with murals. The study also showed a 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians.
Muralist Ryan Jaenke, of Lakewood, said the road will be covered in a bonded paint. That will keep it from getting slippery especially in the rain.
‘Drawing inspiration from Cleveland’s waterways’
The City of Cleveland’s Shore-to-Core-to-Shore Initiative looks to connect the lakefront to the riverfront through the center of downtown, making Cleveland a “two waterfront” city.
“Part of the artistic vision is to talk about Cleveland’s water story,” said Jaenke, the muralist selected to complete the project. “What we’re looking at is drawing inspiration from Cleveland’s waterways and connecting them to this Shore-to-Core-to-Shore idea, you know, how do we translate the flow and movement of water into a flat, two-dimensional type of design.”
Rhonda Brown, Cleveland’s senior strategist for arts and culture, told the audience, “We didn’t want this to feel like marketing for anybody or anyone.”
“The fact that there’s sports in the area,” she said, “we didn’t want basketballs and baseballs on the ground. We really want it to feel like a work of art.”
The mural’s design will be influenced by participant input at more community meetings to come. “So start thinking about water and how it can be represented visually,” Jaenke told the audience.
Around 50 volunteers will be needed mostly to roll paint in the large spaces on the pavements. Jaenke said it will work similar to a paint-by-numbers system. A still-rough timeline suggests painting will occur in June and July.
‘Great energy downtown’
Residents and stakeholders who attended the meeting were enthusiastic about the mural project.
Local events promoter Arnold Hines said he plans on volunteering to paint. He also wants to attend the celebration for the project’s completion. “I would like to be part of that celebration,” he said. “Whatever that looks like.”
Deidre McPherson, an arts and biking advocate, said she thinks her fellow bike-riders will want to volunteer.
“I’m excited about how this is contributing to infrastructure and safety,” she said. “I think it’s just gonna bring great energy downtown.”
