By Brett Milam
Editor
Cincinnati ArtWorks is planning a new John Ruthven mural in the city of Milford and proposed as much to council at its May 4 meeting.
ArtWorks is a nonprofit in Greater Cincinnati, which “transforms people and places through investments in creativity,” according to its mission statement.
Ruthven is a wildlife artist, conservationist and philanthropist. Previously in 2013, ArtWorks turned Ruthven’s painting Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon into a mural in downtown Cincinnati.
The mural was in partnership with the Cincinnati Nature Center.
At one point in time, the passenger pigeon was the most abundant bird species in America, but was hunted out of existence by 1914.
The proposal from ArtWorks is to partner with the Judy & John Ruthven Foundation and the city of Milford to create a permanent 2,500 square foot mural on the retaining wall at the corner of Wooster Pike and Glendale Milford Road.
Matt Weissman, the grandson of Ruthven and representative of the Foundation, explained that the Foundation will fund the project for the city.
Established in 2014, the Foundation “focuses on the arts, education and historic preservation,” Weissman said.
One of their efforts is maintaining the historic Thompson House in Georgetown.
“The main thing that was most important to him [John] was giving back to people, organizations and things that him and Judy [his wife] were passionate about,” Weissman said.
The estimated budget is $100,066.
Linnea Gartin, director of community impact, explained that they do murals so they can employ youth and youth artists.
The youth apprentices ages 14 to 21 get paid to work with ArtWorks seasonally.
Artist investment would include a lead designer, two lead teaching artists, one junior teaching artist and 10 youth apprentices. ArtWorks said it aims to hire 50 percent (minimum) of the youth apprentices team from the city of Milford and/or its surrounding neighborhoods.
Liz Miller, director of creative projects, explained that they are planning for eight separate panels along the retaining wall, which wouldn’t cover the entire wall, but the eight panels would cover the center area.
Miller said they believe the wall will lend itself to a gallery feel of Ruthven’s work.
“It’s a beautiful opportunity,” she said.
Miller said they want to focus on his collection of birds.
She also explained the timeline as using May to get approval from the city, site preparations, and artistic team recruiting and hiring; then June through August would be the bulk of the work on-site, including an early presentation to partners and stakeholders.
By fall 2021, ArtWorks will hold a dedication ceremony.
In a follow up with The Sun, Miller said, “Honoring Mr. Ruthven this way is a huge honor for ArtWorks, and we are delighted to bring this kind of artistic impact to the community of Milford.”
As for why Milford, Miller said they were drawn to this location before of Ruthven’s “great and very established following in this community.” ArtWorks and partner groups are also interested in taking part in the growth Milford is experiencing, she said.
“Having this mural exist on this massive scale in this very visible area will allow us to transform a mundane retaining wall into a gorgeous piece of art that people will get to experience every day,” Miller said.
The primary support ArtWorks would need from the city is for the installation of traffic barricades to protect vendors and teams from passing traffic and signage to indicate work.
In addition, ArtWorks said the city could provide a financial contribution to repair cracks in the wall and prep the surface for painting. The wall prep vendor would be Lehn Painting in Cincinnati.
The barricades are a must, Miller said, and the wall prep would only be a nice bonus.
Amy Vilardo, mayor, said she was star-struck by the presentation, saying it was a “beautiful idea” and “brilliant partnership.”
“I’m so excited for the people in the community to get to work on this. This is just fabulous,” she said.
Michael Doss, city manager, echoed how it was a great opportunity for the city.
“This is just another perfect example of attracting people to Milford with something that’s really cool and unique and quite frankly, I don’t think there’s any of this on the Eastside of Cincinnati, so we’ll be a first,” Doss said.
Doss said they would soon be doing a walk-through of the site with the police and fire departments about how to make the site safe for everyone involved.
To get involved, including how to become an apprentice, visit https://bityl.co/6nHc. Applications are due by May 16.