Community Mural Project (2010)

Community Mural Project (2011-2012)

  • Artist Anna Arnold stretches in front of her mural for East Cleveland; the mural's circle motif represents unity, community, and connection.
  • Anna Arnold's characteristic warm, vibrant colors inspire hope and provide a sense of well-being.
  • Anna Arnold takes a work break between panels of her mural, which depicts the ideals and aspirations of East Cleveland and the positive work being carried out in the city.
  • Sequoia Versillee chose to use the humble dandelion seed as a focal point for her mural, because like people who come from particular ethnic backgrounds or lower economic strata, the dandelion is viewed as a nuisance due to its insistence to survive and thrive in spite of the obstacles slated against it.
  • Sequoia Versillee finishes painting her mural, which honors Kathryn R. Tyler, an inspirational leader of the Glenville neighborhood.
  • Jerome White’s mural will be part of the restored League Park Plaza, due to be completed in April 2013; the arches are doorways from the past to the present to the future, and the brick wall represents stability and strength.
  • Each arch in Jerome White’s mural contains a sports legend from Cleveland Indians/League Park history; the nine arches symbolize the nine innings in a baseball game.
  • Van Monroe’s Fairfax mural portrays a young boy who aspires to become a director in film and theater beginning his journey at Karamu House and a girl who fulfills her dream of becoming a doctor for the Cleveland Clinic.
  • Van Monroe works on his mural, which reflects the history, institutions, and aspirations of the Fairfax community.
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Community Mural Project (2010)

As part of our long-term community engagement initiatives, Community Arts launched public mural projects in four neighborhoods: Fairfax, Hough, Glenville, and East Cleveland. Four Cleveland artists designed the murals, inspired by works in the CMA collection and comments from neighbors in community forums.

A driving tour that starts at the museum is available via Google maps.
A print version is also available.

 

East Cleveland
Artist: Ed Parker
Mural location: Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center
14801 Shaw Ave.

This mural takes its theme from the name of the community center it adorns: the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center. Parker, an East Cleveland resident, provides a panorama of Dr. King’s life journey—from his youth to his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech to winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The mural also depicts other seminal heroes in the pursuit of freedom: Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Cleveland’s Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, and Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States. Silhouettes of families, emblematic of community unity, border the mural.

 

Fairfax
Artist: Neal Hamilton
Mural location: Renaissance Center
8111 Quincy Ave.

Hamilton took the subject for his mural from the numerous gardens in Fairfax, symbolic of the strength and renaissance of the community. The mural portrays the lushness of a futuristic garden from the viewpoint of a family walking toward the light-filled landscape. The tropical garden invites and enlivens the senses with a waterfall, vibrantly colored butterflies, flowers, and a hummingbird. The figure of a shaman watches over the paradise.

 

Glenville
Artist: Jerome T. White
Mural location: Glenville Development Center
10650 St. Clair Ave.

Titled Bound for Glory, White’s mural, the backdrop for a new Glenville park, illuminates the past to help guide the community through the present and into the future. It features an African American youth traveling the Underground Railroad, bound for Ottawa, Canada. As destinations for slaves fleeing the South, cities had code names. Cleveland’s code name was “hope,” while the city of “glory” or “freedom” was Ottawa, located beyond the United States’ northern border. The geese symbolize direction and spiritual freedom.

 

Hough
Artist: Anna Arnold
Mural location: Thurgood Marshall Recreation Center
8611 Hough Ave.

Arnold’s boldly colored mural tells a story of family and community through images of the Storyteller of Hough. She drew inspiration from her own family’s journey to a new city and community. Her grandmother served as a symbol of history and wisdom to direct family members in decisions about their lives. In Arnold’s mural, an older woman with raised hand talks with community youth and families about the experiences and values that provide hope and endurance for the future. Neighborhood youth helped her paint her mural in the recreation center art room.

 

Funding provided by a grant from the Cleveland Foundation