How To Draw People Downtown

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   Journal story...

Mural to show off diversity of art community

MIDDLETOWN — 
A fish mural is swimming into town and ironically it’s being painted on the side of a school.

Cuban artist Osmany Piedra, three apprentice artists and youth artists from Middletown have been working for months on the 90-foot mural on the side of the former Job and Family Service building, 1021 Central Ave. The mural will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Oct. 18, and the last fish will be painted by Piedra and Dr. O’dell Owens, president of Cincinnati State. The downtown building is owned by Cincinnati State Community & Technical College, which owns several properties.

The mural begins with a large fish bony tail, which in Cuba, represents “very little,” said Sue Wittman, director of Art Central Foundation, the organization behind the project. The tail turns into fish, who are shown swimming in the same direction, which makes them “more powerful,” Wittman said.

The design concept came from Piedra, who has worked on the project for two months, and was approved by the City of Middletown.

Earlier this week, Piedra stood on a scaffolding painting a large fish, while Julia Vogelsang, a sophomore at Fenwick High School, outlined other fish toward the bottom of the mural.

Piedra said he’s painting the mural without the assistance of a drawing. He has a concept how the mural will look, but those plans have changed because of what he called “an evolving style.”

Vogelsang agreed: “I paint as I go. I paint what I see.”

It’s one mural with numerous fingerprints. One artist added their initials, and one of the fish is saying, “Hello there.”

Wittman said the mural shows the “diversity” of the art community and it will draw more people downtown. She said the Art Central Foundation hopes to fund one large mural project every year. She said the fish mural has created “positive feedback.”

It will be the 11th mural painted in downtown Middletown, Wittman said. Three of the murals were painted by Franklin’s Eric Henn. Wittman said Henn’s mural on the back of the former First National Bank on Main Street is peeling. Wittman said the primer was “bad,” and plans call for Henn to repair the damage. Eventually, she said, a clear coat will be painted over the murals.

Cincinnati State recently received a $68,500 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation that will assist in the redevelopment of the property at 1021 Central. To meet regional needs, the college must expand beyond the one building it occupies at 1 N. Main St., said Judy Bober, assistant director. She called the grant “very important” to the growth of the college and the continued redevelopment of downtown

MS.WITTMAN MAKES THE STATEMENT, "IT SHOWS DIVERSITY IN THE ARTS COMMUNITY AND IT WILL DRAW MORE PEOPLE DOWNTOWN".......BUT SHE DOESN'T EXPLAIN HOW THIS MURAL WILL DO THAT. HOW DOES ONE MURAL ATTRACT ENOUGH INTEREST FOR SCORES OF PEOPLE TO GO DOWNTOWN? SHOULDN'T THERE BE MORE TO IT THAN TO LOOK AT A MURAL ON THE SIDE OF A BUILDING? COULD SHE BE OVER-SIMPLIFYING THIS A TAD BIT? MS. WITTMAN, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, JUST BECAUSE YOU AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN THE ARTS DOESN'T GUARANTEE THERE WILL BE EQUAL INTEREST GENERATED IN 99% OF THE GENERAL POPULATION OF THIS CITY. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I WOULD BET YOU WOULD ATTRACT MORE ATTENTION FROM MORE PEOPLE IN THiS TOWN, IF YOU STARTED OFFERING LOW COST BEER, A LARGE OUTDOOR HD TV WITH SURROUND SOUND TO WATCH NASCAR OR THE BENGALS ON A SUNDAY AND SOME RIB AND HAMBURGER VENDORS, ALL AT GOVERNORS SQUARE. HECK, WE'LL EVEN LET YOU CALL IT AN ARTS EVENT IF YOU WANT. IT IS A BLUE COLLAR TOWN MS. WITTMAN, BUT YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW THAT. SO SHOULD YOUR ARTS BUDDIES BY NOW. I WOULD IMAGINE VERY FEW WILL LOOK AT YOUR MURAL AND APPRECIATE IT AS MUCH AS YOU DO. MOST HERE ARE CUT OUT OF A DIFFERENT MOLD THAN THE AVERAGE ARTS FAN. AS SOON AS YOU AND THE OTHERS START UNDERSTANDING WHAT MOST LIKE AND WANT, THE SOONER YOU WILL START FILLING YOUR DOWNTOWN. PLEASE STOP FORCING YOUR ARTS THEME ON US. UNLIKE A CENTERVILLE, A WEST CHESTER OR AN ANDERSON, IT WON'T WORK HERE. IT IS NOT A CULTURED TOWN. NEVER WAS. IT STILL HAS IT'S ROOTS IN BLUE-COLLAR STEEL AND PAPER. YOU ARE TOUTING THE WRONG PRODUCT TO THE WRONG AUDIENCE.....AND THE SAD PART ABOUT IT IS YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT.    