New downtown Malvern mural honors village’s heritage

By Thomas Clapper, reporter

Downtown Malvern is now home to a large mural honoring the village heritage by the Malvern Community Development Fund (MCDF) and several volunteers. 

The project came about last year when the idea was brought to the committee and approved as the MCDF 2021 project for Dancing in the Park. MCDF Vice President Doug Wood came up with an online link for anyone to give input and the project was in articles in local papers and Facebook. The committee, which ranges from ages 24-70, decided from approximately 15 ideas that were submitted.  

“All of the 15 suggestions were important, but the mural would have looked really busy with 15 different subjects incorporated into it,” said Project Head Keeleigh Masters.

Donations from last year’s Dancing in the Park funded the project along with The Ohio Arts Council. 

“We had a great response from donors,” said MCDF Administrator Susan Joyce. “I think adding art to the community really is a wonderful and positive thing. This project was so successful, I could see it happening again sometime in the future with more art in town.”

Award winning Minerva artist and art instructor Diane Granger is the artist on the project, creating the original piece to then be turned into the large mural created by Jim and Jabin Spencer of Spencer Singz of Carrollton, who printed and installed the piece. The mural was put on aluminum panels and is displayed on the Hulit building on the corner of Reed Ave. and Porter St. The installation took a full day and many onlookers watched.  

As for the art piece itself, the places and subjects were all chosen from a large list of suggestions from the local community. Lake Mohawk is shown on the letter M. Malvern Village Park is next in line over the letter A. The bricks represent Malvern’s past success as brickyard capital of the United States during the early 1900s. Clyde Singer, nationally recognized artist, is depicted (also recognized at the village limits with state signage). The Great Trail Farm is on the letter E. The hornet is Malvern’s longtime mascot and the letter N is shown with the Malvern Mill which is part of the Malvern Historical Society’s logo. 

“This project worked out great,” said Masters. “I hope in the future we can do more murals that beautify the town that everybody likes to call home.” 

Tyler Moody assisted in the transfer by taking the photo of Diane’s mural and giving it to Spencer Signz to print. Moody also assisted with installing and documenting with drone photography.

Crowl Lumber Co., Inc. provided materials including extra plywood/wood boards to drive the lift on. Volunteers who assisted from UAW 4199 were Jessica Adams, Heath Brammer and Michele Ebner. 

Susan Joyce treated the work crew for the day with brownies from Cafe on the Corner. The entire project offers many thanks to Dr. Mike and Tami Hulit for allowing the use of their real estate to display the mural. 

“When a village unites, wonderful things happen,” said Tyler Moody. “Thank you to all who donated time, equipment, money, and talents to make this project a success.”

For more information on the Malvern Community Development fund, visit malverncdf.org.