Sketching in community murals

Peter Kostes, AB ’92, and Meredith Erlewine, AB ’95, a married couple who own Athens Bicycle, along with several other buildings at the corner of Stimson Avenue and Cornwell Street, wanted a mural on one of them, a rental house. That art form has brightened Southeast OHIO of late.

After seeing the rendition at Athens Bread Company, they contacted one of their customers, John Sabraw, OHIO professor of art and Painting + Drawing chair, and the point person for that piece. He queried his students who had pitched in on it and found two interested parties, Samantha Slone, a senior studio art major from Springfield, and Tiffany Roenigk, a senior double major in psychology and studio art from Grafton, last summer.

They collaborated with Kostes and Erlewine on the design: a female mountain biker pedaling by an array of colors and, in the distance, a railroad track representing a train that once ran in the area.

“Our approach with any artist is to get out of the way,” Kostes said. “We had a great conversation with John about who we were and how we interpret the physical space where we run our business. From that, the general design was dreamed up by John, Sam, and Tiffany. We made a few tweaks but the overall design was purely the artists.”

For Slone, these assignments taught her about commercial art and helped her develop a greater appreciation for public art.

“l never thought I’d love client work,” said Slone, who is interested in environmental art. “But it was really awesome to work with people who were so passionate about something.”

— Jon Greenberg, BSJ ’01, lives in Deerfield, Illinois, and has worked for ESPN, TouchVision, and Team Marketing Report.