CINCINNATI — Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood is a vibrant area with paintings stretching up and down Hamilton Avenue.
Local nonprofit Northsiders Engaged in Sustainable Transformation, or NEST, is leading the way. Since 2023, the organization has helped install seven different murals in their neighborhood.
"We want to keep Northside weird and we love art and expression here," said Northside resident Amanda Roush.
But in December 2024, two murals were covered in paint by vandals. The two murals are located at 4024 Hamilton Ave and 4138 Hamilton Ave.
One mural was covered in lines of pink paint, partially blocking the message "It won't always be like this" written in the artwork.
The second mural, just a few blocks away, was vandalized multiple times and eventually painted over the building's owner.
“These were created by local artists, really celebrating the wonderful things going on in the Northside neighborhood," said NEST Executive Director Rachel Hastings.
NEST decided to take action. The nonprofit has been raising money for several weeks, to meet its goal of $7,000 to restore the murals.
With $2,500 of the funds coming from grants from the Northside Community Fund, a GoFundMe has been started to raise the other $4,500. More than $3,600 had been raised from the public as of Tuesday, March 4.
"What I think is really exciting is like, most of these donations are coming in small dollars, like someone donating, you know, $10, $25, $50 bucks. People that really care about seeing these murals restored," said Hastings.
The money for this restoration will be partly used to pay the artists — Lindsay Nehls and Julia Lipovsky and Jon Flannery — to return and recreate their projects.
Restoration is set to begin sometime in the spring.
Learn more about NEST's efforts here:
"Once we have several weeks of consistently warm weather, the artists will come out and restore their work," said Hastings.
Part of the funds will also be used to protect all seven NEST murals moving forward. The nonprofit told WCPO 9 News it will invest in a special clear coat of paint that protects murals from UV rays and makes the artwork easy to clean if another person vandalizes the mural.
The work to install the clear coat will be a community event, keeping art at the heart of the Cincinnati neighborhood.
"I mean to me, this is what Northside is all about," said Hastings.
