Despite the short-term nature of the initiative and materials used, the Sidewalk Studios’ murals have become a welcome addition to the city’s artistic landscape. Whilst multiple parties involved do not know how long the commissioned works will remain up, all agreed that they would love for them to have a more permanent home in Dayton.
“As far as I know it’s up to the landlord of the building the art is on as to how long it stays up. Our request to them is to keep them up at least a couple of weeks after June 1 so that people in Dayton could come enjoy it,” said Diane Schoeffler-Warren of Culture Works, one of the partnering organizations behind Sidewalk Studios. “It wasn’t just for NATO, it’s for Dayton, too. I would love for the landlords to keep them up or for the businesses who rent out those spaces to do so. It’s really up to the landlord. But we just hope it stays up for a long time.”
Schoeffler-Warren’s comments were echoed by many of the artists who created the murals. Each expressed a strong desire to see the commissioned works find a more permanent, accessible home.
“I would love to have it stay up at least for the summer,” said Ching Chung, artist of “Peace Blossoms in Dayton.”
“It is a vector so it could be printed on anything. If in the future they want it to be part of an exhibit or something I would be happy to print it on another medium.”
Chung’s mural is an example of the transitory nature of the program. Mere weeks following the end of the NATO event, part of the mural was removed for reasons that remain unclear. While Chung shared that she has been assured another place will be found for it, the absence of the full piece leaves Third Street a little greyer.
“I believe they’re going to stay up as long as weather allows. I would absolutely love if they had another life somewhere,” said photographer Briana Snyder, who collaborated with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for a Sidewalk Studios submission. “If another opportunity presents itself for them to be out in the world, I would certainly be open to that.”
Snyder’s work depicts several dancers from the company. The veteran photographer shared that the images were captured during an hour-long session one Spring morning.
“I’ve been a photographer for 20 years but working with the dancers made my job so easy. They’re beautiful and know their angles,” Snyder said. “It meant a lot to be able to do something, to show off DCDC, a world-class organization and talent that we have in Dayton, to the world.”
The photographer’s comments highlight just what the murals mean for the people behind them. Snyder’s work, for example, captures a special moment in Dayton’s artistic evolution.
“Usually, I’m working to a client’s brief be it a headshot or product shot, which I love to do. But it was so fun just to do something for the art of it,” Snyder, who is also CEO of Knack Video+Photo. “I have pictures on billboards and things like that but I have never quite seen nine photos around 16 feet tall displayed like that.”
Snyder’s sentiment is shared by Schoeffler-Warren. That is partly thanks to the close collaboration between Culture Works and its chosen artists.
“I really enjoyed getting to know the artists and why they submitted the specific pieces they chose. That sort of makes each one of those pieces special to me because they shared their thoughts of Dayton and their vision of what Dayton could be or is,” Schoeffler-Warren stated.
According to Schoeffler-Warren, the project’s initial vision was to brighten up downtown Dayton by making use of its empty spaces.
“Dayton is beautiful and we wanted to make sure that NATO knew what Dayton was,” the spokeswoman stated. “I really think Sidewalk Studios achieved that goal.”
It remains to be seen whether or not the Sidewalk Studios can carve out a more enduring legacy. What is certain, however, is the great deal of love and optimism each commissioned work has generated.
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