The monarch butterflies are a symbol of hope and transformation, according to Tipton. And the hands and paper airplanes incorporated in the mural are representative of the city’s growth and future as Hamilton is also transforming through art.
Since 2016, the StreetSpark Public Art program has created three dozen murals, 19 of which are on buildings and 17 on electric boxes. The program launched in the summer of 2016 with the mural of Alexander Hamilton by True West on Main Street.
“We’re really, really delighted to find ways to get farther out and spread farther from the downtown,” said Ian MacKenzie-Thurley, executive director of the Fitton Center, one of the partners in the StreetSpark Arts program. “We don’t mind being in the downtown in the central hub, but we want to get out in all of the incredible 17 Strong neighborhoods throughout Hamilton, and this is a great opportunity for us to do that today.”
Bartels owner Paul Reid has long appreciated the public art around the city, and never thought his business would be included. His dad, Ed, who owns the building but sold the business to his son in 2020, was first approached. But as they presented the handful of ideas for the mural, “Bartels Butterflies” stood out.
“It was a lot of the color schemes we incorporated our logo with,” he said. “The arches and the colors, it just seemed to fit.”
The mural also coincides with Bartels’ 50th anniversary, which was opened in April 1973 by Thomas Bartels after being laid off at Champion Paper. Ed Reid, who worked for Bartels for about 20 years, bought the business before selling it to his son. Paul Reid started with 14 employees in January 2020, and and now fluctuates between 20 to 22 employees.
StreetSpark program director Jenn Acus-Smith said the StreetSpark program is something “people love.”
“People love to see more art here, more beauty here,” she said. “There’s such a variety ... and you can really find inspiration and something new in these pieces of art.”
Reid said he’s seen the art around town, and is a fan, and more is definitely needed on the west side of Hamilton, as it can revive a neighborhood by “putting some color into it.”
Next week, StreetSpark will dedicate the “Stream of Consciousness” mural at the Lane Library on North Third Street, which was designed by Anissa Pulcheon.
There are three utility boxes that are part of the 2023 StreetSpark program: “Colors of the River” by Sarah Hynfield at the corner of North B and Rhea streets; “All Aboard!” by Kiera Fisher at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Hanover Street; and “Windows for Hamilton” by Michelle Furr at the corner of Pleasant and Hooven avenues.
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