HAMILTON, Ohio — It’s not her usual canvas, but as Nicole Chance added the finishing touches, she felt confident she turned the small utility box into a work of art. 

With its bright yellows and vibrant shapes, Hamilton’s newest mini-mural stands out, even beside the busy downtown streets. It's one of 12 to brighten the community as a part of the summer’s StreetSpark project. 

Chance paints the box alongside High Street.

Along with Chance and her assistant, 11 other artist teams spent the summer adding color to the downtown community, hoping to inspire community pride and attracting more people to the city’s urban core. 

“It’s a perfect opportunity to bring some art and some positivity and color to the city,” Chance said. 

The largest piece of the project sits where organizers said that color and positivity are needed most: Outside Hamilton’s power plant. 

With a century-long history of energy production, the city of Hamilton still serves the community from its 3rd Street facility, yet the North End Corridor, where it sits, has struggled with blight and disinvestment from the city’s industrial years. 

That’s why on the 400-foot wall outside the plant, bordering the road, StreetSpark artists designed one of their longest murals yet, inviting community members to help put it together. 

Artists invited the community to help paint the 400-foot mural outside the power plant.

To Sarah Hynfield, an artist assistant on the project and lifelong Hamilton resident, the community collaboration makes the art all the more meaningful. 

“I’m excited to be a part of something in Hamilton that has, like, some staying power,” she said. “I’m going to be like coming across this road all the time and all my family is.”

Hynfield helps Chance paint her utility box mural

Hynfield said she’s been following StreetSpark’s work for years, happy to see the downtown corridor grow more colorful, busy, and alive with each new project and business coming in.

“I really love the organization,” she said. "I think it’s awesome what they do.”

Chance said the designs, like hers, are intentional, aiming to draw visitors' eyes while complimenting all of its neighbors. She said, her box incorporates some of the patterns and colors in the windows across the street.

“I came down here and thought to myself, ‘Are there businesses that could inspire the design? Is there something color-wise that could stand out?’” She said.

While not from Hamilton herself, Chance said she has family in the community that she’s been happy know see her work every day. 

Hynfield too, said she can barely contain her excitement when it comes to imagining what it will mean to have a made a permanent mark on her hometown.

“I’m going to be like talking to my family and being like, hey, guys, guess what? I painted this mural! Isn’t that so cool!”

StreetSpark hopes that pride carries forward, inspiring other art, growth, and development across town, making Hamilton a more beautiful place.