SANBORN, N.Y. (WKBW) — An interactive mural project is encouraging creativity, tourism and highlighting the history of Niagara County.
Each artwork, represents its location with the name of the town, city or village.
Along with historical iconic images highlighting reasons to visit that community.
Think of it as a life-size coloring book!
Niagara County by the Numbers artist and project developer, Mike Weber said, "The whole thing was inspired by COVID really. I wanted to get people out doing something during quarantine that still involved tourism because that industry just tanked. I had to come up with something that was going to get people out exploring the county again."
Designs on this public-use canvas have numbers that tell where to color and drawings that pay homage to the respective city in Niagara County, but instead of color pencils or markers, artists will use chalk.
Weber said, "It's not often that murals are interactive, but in this case, the public can show up with chalk or they can get chalk from the facility and color these murals in for themselves."
Each mural was created by a local artist. One of the artists is Sal Anello.
"I was asked to complete the Carnegie Art Center in North Tonawanda," Anello, with Canvas Crashers artist and entertainer said.
Artist and entertainer Sal Anello said he hopes this project allows people to come out and experience art-making.
"For the sake of just having fun and just enjoying themselves, coming out here. Just a great idea to bring people together out here in the community," Anello said.
While this Tuesday is bringing in a gloomy overcast, these murals will bring a lot of pop in your corner of the lake once all 12 are completed.
The neat thing about it is, once it rains, it will be like a new slate was created for the next young artist who stumbles upon a mural.
Weber added, "Really I just wanted people to learn about the area and all the weird things that are in the county. It's fun. All the activities and tourist sights and plus you can color it. If you've never colored anything this big before, it encourages young artists to take on bigger projects."
The mural artists are as follows:
City: Town of Porter
Location: Falkner Park
Artist: Timothy Martin
City: Town of Newfane
Location: WAHI Studio parking lot
Artist: Jessica Tomaino (of WAHI Studio)
City: Town of Lockport
Location: Daisy's Adventure Park at the Kenan Center
Artist: Cindy Meal (Owner of Lamplighter Art Gallery & Gifts)
City: Town of Cambria
Location: Niagara County Community College
Artist: Michael Weber (Michael Weber Arts)
City: Town of Royalton
Location: Gasport Volunteer Fire Company
Artist: Matt Duquette (12 Grain Studio)
City: North Tonawanda
Location: Carnegie Art Center
Artist: Sal Anello (Canvas Crashers)
City: Town of Hartland
Location: Hartland Town Park
Artist: Mark Weld (Weld Signs)
City: Town of Pendleton
Location: Uncle G's Ice Cream
Artist: Robin Damiano (Damiano Arts)
City: Town of Lewiston
Location: Artpark Concessions Building
Artist: Dayna Hazlett (DaynaFX)
City: Town of Wilson
Location: Brownie's Custard Stand
Artist: Nikki Milley (NikkiMDesigns)
City: Town of Niagara
Location: Aquarium of Niagara
Artist: Amira Moore
City: Town of Somerset (Village of Barker)
Location: David Barker Park
Artist: Nin Bogue (Bogue Art Studios)
Designer of all of the murals:
Matt Duquette - Motherland Studio in Lockport
