Murals Mat ter change can come from some thing beau tiful.
People often ask Beth Keener- Flanery, executive director of Arts Monongahela, the Morgantown area's arts council, why one would, why one would spend time, energy, and sometimes limited funding on a public arts initiative. Her answer? “Public art is imperative to our communities,” she says. “It keeps people engaged and creates a dialogue.” The arts are what bring a community to life, says Sally Deskins, exhibits and program coordinator at WVU Libraries. And part of bringing a community to life is crafting its narrative. “Art reflects a moment in time and a culture,” says Keith Jackson, dean of the university’s College of Creative Arts. Take for example the pride crosswalk on Wilson Avenue in Greenmont. Six colorful stripes paint a clear and simple message: All kinds are welcome in the “gayborhood.” Murals can make a difference, says Vincent Kitch, Morgantown’s director of arts and cultural development. Think Princeton, once a rail and coal town, now part of Mercer County’s Certified Arts Community. Lori McKinney- Blankenship, an artist and arts organizer based in Princeton, says she creates public art in hopes that people will go out into the world and create more of it. It’s the broken windows theory, she explains. “If there are a bunch of broken windows and rundown buildings in someone’s space, they’re more likely to
throw a rock and break another window,” she says. Disorder begets disorder. But if a space is exciting and joyous with bright colors and inspiring messages, people are more likely to behave in a way that’s harmonious with that environment. Before McKinney- Blankenship and a group of creatives dreamed up The RiffRaff Arts Collective—the powerhouse behind most of Princeton’s murals—the area was “an economic development engine waiting to be tapped.” The 30-plus professional murals on Mercer Street—now more murals than building vacancies—have helped draw people back downtown. “Princeton is, in my opinion, a model for the whole state,” says Jesse Heady, chair of Arts Mon’s Public Art Committee. “I believe at my core in the power of public art to help unify communities and help with general well-being.” Public art can be almost anything, writes Partners for Livable Communities, a nonprofit mobilizing arts and cultural resources for community development. “But, it must foremost serve the public, be reflective of its sense of place, and representative of the community for which it is created.” The Mount Hope Phoenix Wall on the side of Giuseppe’s Italian Restaurant in Mount Hope, West Virginia is an example. Artists Ian Bode and Brian Pickens painted the mural in 2018 to tell the
story of a town that rose from the ashes of a 1910 fire, along with the town’s present and its future. Soon after the mural was finished, the adjacent parking lot became an event space off Main Street, hosting community gatherings and celebrations. “For a community, a space like that becomes a centerpiece,” says Pickens, “something for people to gather around and be proud of.” Morgantown abounds with opportunities for art— alleyways, backs of businesses, blighted parking lots, empty storefronts—and it’s growing in terms of cohesiveness, collaboration, and patronage and understanding of the arts, Deskins says. It’s just about getting the right people to the table. We’re at just the beginning of the future of art in Morgantown, says Jillian Kelly, founder of Morgantown Art Party, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing the community together through art. “I strongly feel like Morgantown is about to be put on the map for art,” she says. “We have so many great art organizations, and we’re all working together to help all the talented artists in Morgantown flourish and share their work with the community.” Heady says there are plans and a framework in place to continue to move the needle, bringing thought leaders and artists together from across the state and country, ultimately to bring more vibrant and bigger works to Morgantown.
8 MORGANTOWN • OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020
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