CLEVELAND — In different Cleveland neighborhoods, you’ll find art throughout, peppering pops of color to beautify the area. Soon, there will be a very special mural in Cleveland’s Clark Fulton neighborhood that’s an homage to the Guatemalan population that lives there.
There are several artists involved in the project, but the main artist is Tessa Lebaron.
“I’ve noticed this wall for a really long time,” she said.
Shawn Mishak is a co-artist.
“Tess had always been mentioning, as we drove by when it was the mattress place, that she wanted to do a mural there,” he said.
The building she is speaking of at 2966 West 25th Street.
Lebaron said she contacted the owner of the building, Gary Grace, and asked if she can paint a mural on his building.
“I said, 'You can paint on my building, but you have to paint this, and I showed her a picture,'” he said.
The picture Grace showed was of a Guatemalan landscape.
“My girlfriend is from Guatemala, and so when I go there, I stay with their family, and I said, 'You know, there’s so many Central Americans here, it should be represented,'” he said.
Lebaron said she didn’t know much about Guatemala, but she was up for the challenge to learn about the country, and she was introduced to Hector Castellanos, a Guatemalan artist.
“When I heard that it was going to be a landscape from Guatemala, I got so excited because I am from there,” said Castellanos. “Everyone will identify volcanoes, a beautiful lake, vegetation and this bird flying behind me is a Quetzal — it means freedom.”
Grace hired various people in the neighborhood to help prep the wall, and Lebanon started the mural Monday.
The project is partially funded by a grant through Neighborhood Connections. Sherwin Williams donated paint and materials at a discount.
But Mishak said they’ll be holding a benefit concert and event to raise more funds, tentatively, on Aug. 20.
“The Latino population is concentrated here in this area, mostly Puerto Ricans and Mexicans and then Central Americans. Guatemala has a huge population here.”
Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct address for the mural.
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