PEACH WEEKENDER

Online mural site includes Toledo boy’s photo

Juleeon Carter, now 10, was photographed in 2011 at a Food for Thought Saturday picnic on the grounds of the Main Library by Robin Charney.

Juleeon Carter, now 10, was photographed in 2011 at a Food for Thought Saturday picnic on the grounds of the Main Library by Robin Charney.

The exuberant face of an 8-year-old Toledo boy that covers a wall in the Old West End is one of nine murals highlighted on the CNN Instagram mural page online. Juleeon Carter, now 10, was photographed in 2011 at a Food for Thought Saturday picnic on the grounds of the Main Library by Robin Charney. For years, Charney of Sylvania has taken portraits of people who attended the free food events, and returned the following weeks with copies of photos to give them. When she re-met Juleeon with his mother a few weeks later, she told them that the joy captured in his photo should be shared, perhaps put up on a wall “because it just makes people feel good.”

It took a few years of talking to dozens of people and considering various buildings until the project fell in place. Rachel Richardson of Art Corner Toledo agreed to help.

So did Charney’s co-workers at Promedica, and Promedica itself, which paid part of the cost to produce the 15-foot-by-22-foot vinyl-mesh piece, attached with grommets to a building on Delaware Avenue at Collingwood Boulevard.

The hanging, made by CGS Imaging of Maumee, would normally cost $5,000 to $6,000, but CGS discounted the job, said Chuck Stranc, CEO of CGS.

“I think everybody got creative to make this happen,” he said. Installed Oct. 17, it’s likely to remain in good condition for at least three years, he said.

Noted Charney, who’s still in contact with Juleeon and his family, “I've always felt that this was a special photo of a special kid.”

The mural project was CNN Instagram’s first “community assignment,” for which it invited people “to photograph murals or street art in their communities and tell us about them. We were thrilled to see more than 300 submissions from all over the world and hear the many stories behind them,” the site says.

Submitting a photo of the wall hanging of Juleeon with him and his family standing in front of it was Emily Rippe, who wrote to CNN Instagram that Juleeon’s family combats hunger on a daily basis, but he “maintains a smile that could span the Midwest. His mural stands for hope and change in cities and towns across the country.”

To see the submissions, type “CNN Instagram Challenge” into Yahoo or Google and scroll to the seventh mural.

This pastel on sanded surface was created by Mary Jane Erard, who will teach a pastel class in the Toledo Artists’ Club studio from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 25.

● A pastel class at which technique and composition will be demonstrated will be taught by Mary Jane Erard in the Toledo Artists’ Club studio from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 25. Cost is $35. To register, contact Erard at maryjaneerard@yahoo.com.

To see her work, go to www.landscapesinpastel.com.

● The business of art is the theme for the 2014 season of the Northcoast Arts Alliance, which will host workshops on the topic. Sessions will be organized through the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Terra State Community College and presenters will include art, business, and nonprofit experts.

Working to Create a Business Plan that Works for You will be the topic at 10 a.m. Feb. 1 in the Sandusky State Theatre, led by Bill Auxter.

The Northcoast Arts Alliance’s arts showcase and symposium will be 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 12 at Terra State Community College.

And the latest in social media will be tackled at 10 a.m. June 7 in the Ida Rupp Library during a session called Marketing Arts Effectively in a 21st Century World.

Information: www.northcoastarts.com.

Send items for News of Art two weeks before the event to tlane@theblade.com.