Preserving the past
Diane Adams has completed the historical Claysville mural, which depicts the likenesses of residents or loved ones who donated at least $500 to the $10,000 project. Those in the mural are, standing, from left, Wesley Warne, Johnny Six, Sam and Mary Post, Howard Ferrell and Ernest and Reita Finley. Beside the Posts is Sam Post’s 1932 Ford Model 18. In the bottom windows are, from left, William Golden, James Walter Barnhart, Martha Jane Warne, Cece Burig and Dick Sprowls; middle windows, Eldon and Floyd Day and Boyd Ealy; and top windows, Jane Williams, Adina Pope Austin Williams and Beth Emeterio.
Diane Adams has been commissioned to paint an installation piece for Oil City that is composed of 24 panels, each measuring 4 feet by 8 feet.
Artist Diane Adams poses between portraits of Cece Burig and Dick Sprowls on the historical mural that she painted on the Claysville Community Center building on Main Street.
CLAYSVILLE – Artist Diane Adams knew she wanted to paint a historical piece in her hometown, and thanks to a collaborative community effort, she has done just that, creating an eye-catching mural that depicts some of the people who have been an inspiration to residents of this proud town.
“I was thinking about this for a long time,” said Adams, noting that the mural had been in the development stages for about eight years. “Things happened and evolved in a way I never could have imagined.”
The mural of the former Central Hotel, later known as the Claysville Hotel, is on the east exterior wall of the Community Center on Main Street in downtown Claysville, just a block or so around the corner from where the original hotel stood before it was razed in 2005 to make way for the Claysville Apartment Building.
“It’s in the center of town,” Adams said. “It is a very fitting location.”
The preservation project came together through the cooperation of the Community Center, the Claysville Business Association and the Claysville Area Preservation and Revitalization Initiative, which was formed in 2004 to act as a catalyst in revitalizing the Claysville area. The nonprofit serves as the grant-writing and fund-raising arms of local renovation projects.
“The whole area is trying to rebuild and preserve our past,” said Kim Shoup, president of CAPRI.
Shoup added that CAPRI was responsible for installing bathrooms at McGuffey Park and hopes to promote historical spots thoughout town with interactive displays. A concert series, sponsored in conjunction with the Claysville Business Association, also is being considered.
The mural, however, was definitely a community-wide effort. Adams said she was hoping to apply for a Local Share Account grant to finance the $10,000 project, but LSA grants aren’t available for murals. So, she went a different route.
“To fund the mural, we sold people,” Adams said. “It’s the first time I’ve funded a mural this way.”
Those who donated a minimum of $500 had the opportunity for a likeness of either themselves or a loved one – and in one case, a prized possession – to be depicted on the wall.
“Everything started working, and the donations poured in,” Adams said.
The mural features 18 former or current residents and Sam Post’s 1932 Ford Model 18, which he drives in parades and antiques shows. Post and his wife, Mary, are shown standing next to the car.
Among the other people in the mural are:
• Dick Sprowls, who in the 1950s began operating the hardware and appliance store that his grandfather founded in 1891. “He is the most prominent person,” said Adams. “He was the heart of the town. Everyone recognizes him at that age.” He is shown in a first-floor window.
• Dr. Floyd Day, who now resides in Florida. He is seen in a second-floor window with Eldon Day.
• Willam Golden, a barber who can be seen beside a red-and-white barber’s pole.
• Boyd Ealy, a lifelong resident who worked in pipeline construction, as a truck driver and as a machine operator at the former Jessop Steel. He also assisted his family with their Tri-State Designs Trophy Store.
• James Walter Barnhart, whose son, Jim “Trinity” Barnhart, lives about a block away from the mural. Trinity loaned ladder jacks to Adams for the project, so she included his father on the mural. “He said when he sits on his porch and looks up, he can see his dad,” Adams said.
• Beth Emeterio, who is peering out a third-floor window. The Emeterio family once owned the hotel, and Beth’s mother and brother still live in the area. Beth apparently is happy with her depiction on the mural. She has since changed her Facebook profile picture to the portrait Adams painted on the wall.
“I wanted to make a scene to be part of the environment, and not look at it so much as a mural, but as if you’re looking at a scene on the street,” Adams said.
The mural measures 18 feet by 40 feet, and it took 270 hours to complete.
But Adams is no stranger to large-scale projects.
She previously was awarded a wall in Oakdale Borough through the competitive Sprout Fund in Pittsburgh, and she painted, among several others, murals in the former Adams’ Pine Creek Buffet and Catering, which opened in the barn once owned by auctioneer Hezzy Reese. However, the Amwell Township landmark – and the murals – were destroyed in a 2012 fire.
Adams’ next project is an installation piece in Oil City that depicts a train exiting a tunnel. Adams was one of three artists commissioned to create a mural through a grant Oil City had received. The piece consists of 24 panels, with each panel measuring 4 feet by 8 feet.