CINCINNATI — ArtWorks Cincinnati celebrated Thursday the addition of five new murals, each featuring a local civil rights leader.
The murals of Fred Shuttlesworth, Theodore Berry, Marjorie B. Parham, Fanny Graff and Artie & Annie Matthews can be spotted throughout Avondale. ArtWorks partnered with Urbanist Media, a community preservation cooperative, to choose who to feature and where to place them.
In addition to celebrating these key figures, the project is part of a broader quality-of-life plan developed by Avondale leaders and community members.
"We think that murals and artwork are a way to beautify the community and having the murals around the neighborhood in different areas gives a chance to create a walking trail and creates a reason for people to be alive and walking within the community," said Jill Dunne, senior director of marketing and communications for ArtWorks.
By strategically placing the murals in different parts of the neighborhood, ArtWorks said it created a walking trail to create connectedness between residents and institutions.
The nonprofit also hopes the project will give more people a reason to visit Avondale.
"ArtWorks is all about making our community more vibrant. We bring beauty, we bring a chance to employ artists and youth," Dunne said.
A lead teaching artist worked with another teaching artist and several apprentices, ages 14-21, to create the project. Several of them are from Avondale.
"Once you put art and let youth do art that makes them feel good about being in the space that they are, then they're more willing to be out in the community, more willing to make connections with other people," said Nytaya Babbitt, the lead teaching artist.
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