Imagine Murals Aplenty

1-22-10

Today, the east wall of Clinton Plaza is blank.
Imagine.
By summer’s end, drivers heading west on Main Street toward Chestnut may happen upon a 12,000-square-foot bird’s-eye view of Oneonta, abounding with native wildlife, hills and ponds.
It’s only a few months and $5,500 away.
Oneonta Artist Cynthia Marsh – who first proposed murals for the city along with artist Jennie Williams back in 1998 – since last summer has been planning the project’s completion with Jackie Hunt of the Westbury Property Management Group, and owner of the Clinton Plaza.  Already, more than half the $12,400 cost has been raised.
 “The Baldos” – Jackie Hunt is married to Jim Baldo – “approached me last summer about doing signage for their Clinton Plaza building. I brought up the idea of doing a landmark mural to help beautify the city and area, while also advertising the businesses.”
In December, the undertaking received a $3,000 New York State Council on the Arts grant through the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts Decentralization Program. It is now its research and development phase.
Marsh flew over Oneonta at the peak of the fall colors this last fall with pilot Rob Craigmyle of Flying Starts and local photographer Brit Worgan to get a feel for the aerial view of the city and its surrounding. She will reference Worgan’s 600 photos while doing her sketches and painting.
“We want to celebrate the beauty of the area,” said Marsh.
Book publisher David Hayes, a supporter of the mural project, has experience with the impact of public art on a community. He has helped his brother and father put together large sculpture shows in Fort Pierce, Fla., and White Plains that helped to revitalize neighborhoods.
“I am enthusiastic about public art. Anytime you can put art where people can see it is great,” said Hayes.
Hayes and Marsh foresee this mural as the first of several to be painted in the city, and recognize an affinity to Jennie Williams’ roundhouse mural in the Main Street walkway. 
Imagine a flock of birds flying across the cornice of a Main Street building.  Or perhaps a locomotive mural, celebrating the city’s railroad heritage, on the side wall of the Otsego County annex, the former City Hall on Main Street.
There’s plenty of talent in town, they said; all that’s needed is a little funding.
Marsh’s handiwork can already be seen all around Oneonta:  The Farmer’s Market sign at Main and Fairview, the Autumn Café’s mural, the bread mural at Elena’s to name a few.
To contribute your ideas for future murals contact Cynthia Marsh at  info@cynthiamarsh.com. To donate: Tax deductible donations may be sent to: The Otsego County Conservation Association, P.O. Box 931, 101 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Attention: “Clinton Plaza Mural.”