CLEVELAND — Work is set to begin next week on an effort to transform several roads around Gateway as part of the Asphalt Art Project.
The City of Cleveland is one of several cities in North America awarded a $100,000 grant by Bloomberg Philanthropies for the work to paint murals on parts of Huron Road, Prospect Avenue and East Ninth Street.
"When we received notification that we were being granted this $100,000 project, we were extremely excited," said Rhonda Brown, Mayor Bibb's senior advisor for Arts and Culture. "This is the largest piece of asphalt art in our city at this point — or it will be."
The project serves a dual purpose.
Research by Bloomberg has found where these projects have been installed, total crashes dropped by 17% and crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists by 50%.
"And that's an area where we know that we need some additional support," said Brown. "It's a busy intersection and this work of art will really kind of support that work."
Local artist Ryan Jaenke, the man behind downtown's Main Avenue murals, will be the lead artist on the project, with the work beginning next week, and you can actually play a role in it.
"Downtown Cleveland Inc. is a partner on this project, and you can go to their website to sign up to volunteer. They have a very robust volunteer program," said Brown. "There are opportunities during painting days for volunteers to work with the lead artist and his crew to execute, so we're very excited.
"We're talking to businesses in the area about getting their employees involved. We want to get Councilman [Richard] Starr and certainly the mayor out there painting and as many folks as we can to really participate in this."
The question many of you may have, given the harsh weather realities that await the artwork: Will it hold up?
"Yes, we're using a paint called Street Bond, and it is different from your everyday paint. It is intended to adhere to the pavement," said Brown. "We will have this bold, fresh look for a very long time."
And so long as the weather cooperates over the next few weeks, the goal is to have it complete by July 4.
