ASHTABULA — Main Avenue came alive on Saturday with a colorful mural painting party. Tessa LeBaron spearheaded the event, inviting the public to contribute. From 11 a.
m.-3 p.m.
, the alleyway between 4619 and 4633 Main Ave. buzzed with excitement as families, friends, creatives and community leaders came together to join in on the fun. LeBaron set up the project like a giant coloring book, providing guidance for everyone involved.
Participants were encouraged to paint designated areas with specific colors that were already marked. LeBaron said everyone had a lot of fun with the project. “The painting process is coming natural to them,” she said.
LeBaron received help from the Ashtabula Arts Center, which helped her secure grant funding from the Ohio Arts Council. “We started doing public murals in 2017,” said Meeghan Humphrey, Ashtabula Arts Center executive director. “When Tessa came to us in January .
.. seeing that she wanting to do this big mural to give back to Ashtabula .
.. my first response was that it’s a great idea.
I wanted to make sure there was community involvement.” LeBaron said it’s rare to have an interactive mural project where the community can participate. “One of the goals with the Arts Center and I was to have community engagement, to have people feel like they’re a part of something that we’re all creating down here,” LeBaron said.
Humphrey said murals transform neighborhoods. “This alley is going to be safer, cleaner and people will actually want to spend time here,” she said. “They’re going to come here and take pictures.
It makes downtown Ashtabula more walkable.” LeBaron was excited to see some familiar faces at the event, including original mural project member Elisa Albrecht, who played a role in the first mural attempt in 2016. When the city did not permit LeBaron to continue their original work in the alleyway during that time, Albrecht had to cover up the drawing of her robot, which was still slightly visible on the wall.
“I just like science fiction stuff,” she said. “I’m just touching up on the old drawing and making it blend in with the rest of this. I’m happy we’re able to do the whole alleyway now, with the city’s permission.
” Support from the city included Ward 5 Councilperson Jane DiGiacomo and Municipal Court Judge Laura DiGiacomo. Jane DiGiacomo said the event was very well organized. “I liked the camaraderie of the people coming together to lift downtown area up with art,” she said.
“The Ashtabula community wants the downtown to thrive and events like this bring the people together.” Louis Murphy Jr., a Democrat running for the 99th state House district, also attended the event.
“Art can change a whole area and a perspective on a region,” he said. “I think this is wonderful for the community.” Aubrey Wright, who grew up in Ashtabula County, said it’s great to see people come together for a meaningful project.
“It’s good to see a productive thing happening in an area that doesn’t always get the best rap for being a smaller, lower socioeconomic space,” she said. “It’s beautiful here. There’s plenty of things do that doesn’t involve just going to a bar and hanging out.
Getting together and making something that is productive ...
it’s a good time. I’m happy to be here and I’m happy to help out.” LeBaron said the project aims to instill a sense of pride in the neighborhood with something unique.
“It feels like a dream,” she said. “It feels really good to create something in this town, where there’s not a lot of opportunities like this.”.
