AKRON, Ohio — Once smashed and broken, many of the windows and doors of Akron’s downtown businesses now evoke positivity, as artists from around the region have installed colorful murals and words of comfort on the boarded storefronts.
The storefronts were shattered in early July when public reaction to the police killing of 25-year-old Jayland Walker sent angry protesters into the streets where they became violent.
Walker was shot nearly 50 times after fleeing from Akron police, who said he fired a weapon during the pursuit. What followed was weeks of rallies, marches and protests in the downtown area.
The aim of the Engage Akron Window Art Project is to bring a sense of safety and welcome back to downtown, said artist Da'Shika Street, who sparked the idea to enlist local artists to transform the ugly boards into art.
Street said she had seen the public art idea in action in other northeast Ohio communities and knew it would help Akron’s downtown.
She presented the idea to Downtown Akron Partnership during a local business meeting. DAP secured funding from the Knight and GAR foundations, and issued an RFP to area artists for help in transforming the storefronts.
Just two days before the violence occurred, Street and her husband, Andre Street, had opened Street Craftery, which offers craft workshops and gifts, she said. They immediately were forced to close up for the coming weeks and board the shop windows as a preventative measure.
“Especially going in as a brand-new business, with high hopes and momentum and excitement, and then two days later to shut down for a period that at the time was unknown. It was quite disheartening," she said.
Now a number of downtown storefronts have been transformed, with art either painted directly onto the boards or digitized and printed on panels.
“Seeing the boarded-up windows being transformed with art, it really was inspiring,” said Randi Mull of Affirmed Artistry. “I was, you know, thankful and excited to be a part of it.”
Some of Mull’s work features words of hope in bright white lettering on a black background.
Her piece titled “The Great Exchange” is intended to inspire the downhearted. Mull said she was moved to create the positive exchange while she was driving on Exchange Street in downtown, where it is now installed. She said that was not a coincidence.
“It was intentional so I kind of just followed that inspiration,” she said. “I feel like people are waiting at the light on Exchange and they can look over, you know, and say ‘hey, I'm lonely, but there's a friend coming,’ or something of that nature.”
Artist Kimmy Henderson’s piece is also on Exchange near South Main Street. Henderson’s image is a component of her larger Bipolar Butterfly Project, she said. The subject is a large butterfly intact on one side, and seemingly melting on the other.
“It represents how on one side, we try to show our best beautiful selves, even if we're crumbling on the other,” Henderson said. The image shows a woman with different cultural features, different eye and skin colors, to portray how bipolarism effects everyone, uniting all cultures.
Reaction to the art has been positive, Street said.
Street Craftery is right on South Main Street, so pedestrians sometimes stop in asking if anyone knows who created the art.
“So it's been pretty amazing to see everyone's reactions to it and you know, just how they interact with it and their thoughts about it,” she said.
The art will remain up until all shop owners can take down the boards covering their broken windows and doors, Street said.
But it’s slow going for some businesses, as supply chain problems are holding up their recovery.
In the meantime, the artists said they hope the images brighten the day for people in Akron’s downtown.
“That is my hope, you know, as our city is transitioning, that we will exchange the negative things for the more positive things,” Mull said. “So we can have a better future, whatever that looks like.”
