Mural team is ready to get to work

The Columbus Mural team teased their creation ahead of the Thursday start of their project at the Coleman Health Services Building at 16 E. Auglaize St.

The team consists of Isaac Kauffman, John Martino, Freddie Crocheron, and Khalia Carr. Auglaize Historical Society Director Rachel

Barber explained that the First on the Moon Committee issued a request for proposal and

had unanimously selected the Columbus

Mural Team’s idea.

“This is our first mural in Wapakoneta and we are very excited about it,” Barber said. The team was introduced during a Facebook meet-and-greet session that aired Sunday evening.

Kaufman graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2021 with a Bachelors in Illustration. His extensive freelance work includes a few murals.

“Definitely one of my favorite things to do is paint on bit canvases,” Kauffman said. His work also frequently involves screen printing and graphic designs.

Martino graduated from CCAD in 2020 with a degree in illustration, minoring in comics. He

said prior to CCAD he had worked on a mural in Cincinnati as a summer project through a program called Art Works, which opened his

eyes to public art. Martino also has experience with music gig posters and comics and works

at a metal shop in Columbus. He and Kaufman play in a band together.

Carr works as a card artist for Bark Box. She draws portraits of dogs for customers, and also freelances logo designs, animations and other portraits.

She is an Illustration major graduating from CCAD in 2018 with a minor in fine arts. She

has been working on murals every summer

since she graduated. She has worked with Kauffman on a

mural and Crocheron on a comic anthology. She said wapakoneta’s mural would be her largest.

Crocheron also graduated in 2018 and has worked on logos, food trucks, comics, children’s book as well and had experience from creating murals through Art Works in Cincinnati while he was in high school.

Kaufman said his family in Lima reached out to him about the competition and he began

building a team. Kaufman said they wanted to stand out and considered what other teams might be working on.

“We really just wanted to create something that was original and true to us and true to our styles,” Kaufman said.

He said it includes a comic-y feel to the mural as several of

them are involved in the comic world.

“We think it’s very fun and lively,” Kaufman said.

Their goal is to portray a sense of the community beyond an astronaut to invoke

how the moon landing would make Wapakoneta feel.

Barber said the design takes the moon landing and makes it feel current and fun.

Martino gave credit to Crocheron for the foundation of the design. He explained that

there will be non descript lines for the first few days as they structure the mural.

“I believe it will be real exciting around Monday or Tuesday,” Martino said. Kaufman

added that big blocks of color will be added around that time, however “line work” will be slow.

Crocheron wants the mural to be “colorful, vibrant and fun.” He wants to bring the inspirational energy that he draws from other mural filled

cities like Cincinnati and Columbus.

Carr wants people to get excited about public art. The mural painting will start Thursday morning.