Grand Exchange Mural

This mural was a collaborative effort of students in the Spring 2019 Art Bomb Brigade class, a course surrounding the creation of public art. The full building mural was created for The Grand Exchange, a small business in Akron which uses the building as a gathering space which different organizations can rent out, providing a safe and comfortable place for groups that may otherwise not be able to meet.

Students worked together, meeting with the clients, discussing concepts, rendering ideas, and finally painting the mural itself. The building was painted olive green by a professional painter, and then students used spray paint and chalk to rough out the images before painting them in. The mural consists of a woman on a bike to represent exploration, fun, and endless possibility. The flowers which decorate the sides of the building represent growth, change, and admiration of nature’s beauty. Finally, the geometric pattern on the front of the building invokes a sense of unity and connection, and is a reflection of the elegant space which lays hidden within the brick building.