The mural, called “Love of Home,” was fittingly completed on Friday, Feb. 14 for Valentine’s Day. Shoppers will now be able to stop and admire these two large murals on the mall’s second level near JCPenney.
The mural was designed by Aaron Queener and painted by Cincinnati artist Nick Scrimenti.
“As everyone in our community knows, this past year has been a tough year for Dayton,” said Tony Scrimenti, the business side of mural artist Nick Scrimenti’s business, Mural N Sign Painting. “The one thing that everyone could use is love. This piece, designed by Aaron Queener and painted by Nick Scrimenti, is the visual representation of this notion.”
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The mural was designed to include the visual motif of the giving hand repeated in a pattern that eventually leads to the ultimate message, written in large letters: “Give Love.” The piece also incorporates the wise words of one Dayton legend. Painted into the corner of the mural is poet Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “A Toast to Dayton” that includes perhaps the line that inspired the overall theme of the piece:
“Love of home, sublimest passion
That the human heart can know!”
The mural’s painter, Nick Scrimenti, has been painting murals in Ohio and surrounding states for the past 11 years. He has done work for Rhinegeist, Kroger headquarters, the city of Hamilton and so much more. For Scrimenti, art is something that bears a special kind of healing power — especially in trying times.
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“Art has the power to bring people together,” said Nick Scrimenti. “It was so funny how many people were coming up to me as I was painting the mural, wanting to know more about it and to just talk. I think that art creates conversation and brings all of us together.”
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