{"DS | Byline name"/}By Mark Boshnack
{"DS | Byline title"/}Staff Writer
{"DS | Body text | ragged"/}An artist, executive and property owner are looking to use their combined skills and ideas to help beautify downtown Oneonta.
The Main Street Oneonta Mural Project is an effort spearheaded by local artist Cynthia Marsh.
She is working with Erik Miller, executive director of Otsego County Conservation Association, and Jacki Hunt of Westbury Property Management Group, which owns Clinton Plaza.
The goal is to promote community and economic growth in downtown Oneonta with the painting of 1,200-square-foot mural on the eastern wall of Clinton Plaza, according to a media release.
"I enjoy painting and creating beautiful things that inspire others," Marsh said when asked why she got the project started. "The mural gives me the opportunity to do my work on a larger scale."
In towns that have
embraced murals, such as Toppenish, Wash., and Frederick, Md., downtowns have been rejuvenated, she said.
"Our city is not very big. It wouldn't take a lot of public art to see such a change," she said.
Her actual design is in its research and development phase, Marsh said. Fundraising started in December with a $3,000 decentralization grant from the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts. With other grants and donations, about 55 percent of the $12,400 cost has been raised, Miller said.
The collaborative effort also includes Greater Oneonta Historical Association, Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society and New York State Historical Association, he said.
The mural will be "a bird's eye view of historical downtown with emphasis on nature," he said.
OCCA got involved because of the environmental aspect of the mural, he said. By making downtown more beautiful, it will also help economic development, he said.
"We hope this spurs collaboration of other non-profits," Miller said. "I think it's pretty amazing."
The organizers are also working on fundraising letters that will be going out shortly, Marsh said. Already planned is a monthlong fundraiser in May at Elena's Sweet Indulgence, she said. Working sketches, photographs and paintings from the project will be shown and sold during that time. A finished piece will be raffled at a ribbon-cutting on a date to be determined.
Marsh is planning to work on the actual painting of the mural from June through August. The date could change based on weather conditions, she said.
Tax-deductible contributions can be sent directly to Otsego County Conservation Association at P.O. Box 931, Cooperstown, N.Y., 13326, attention "Clinton Plaza Mural."
