'Awesome ideas': Students' mural depicts Johnstown's past, present, future

Dave Sutor, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Oct. 26—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — When Hiromi Katayama and four Greater Johnstown High School students started working on a mural together, she posed one question to them — "What is Johnstown?"

Katayama, a native of Japan who lives in Washington, Pennsylvania, was unfamiliar with the city.

So Nichole Harrity, Brice Mroczka, Korei Donitzen and Anthony Kirby told her about the area's rich history, what life is like here today and their vision for the future.

Their ideas were then combined into a painting that celebrates the bygone days of steel mills and trollies, looks at today when Coal Tubin' and Thunder in the Valley are popular, and imagines a future with ziplining and a monorail.

"These guys came up with awesome ideas. ... We put all the fun ideas into the one piece of the mural to describe Johnstown," Katayama, an artist with the Rural Arts Collaborative, said.

The mural, located at 123 Market St., on the back of the Blaine Boring building, was unveiled during a ceremony on Monday afternoon.

"To be honest, they said like just a mural," Kirby said. "I wasn't ready for all of this obviously. I just thought painting it, we're done, out of sight. I was not ready to have the mayor, all these important people, the news, this interview. I was not ready for that."

Katayama's mural was Rural Arts Collaborative's first project in Johnstown.

"We were very excited to do this," RAC founder Carmelle Nickens said.

The painting was a collaborative effort between RAC, the school district, Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, 1st Summit Bank and Vision Together 2025.

"It was really just a way to say how are we going to bring that culture and the bright colors back to our city," said Toya Thomas, a teacher and member of the Vision Together 2025 neighborhood development capture team.

"And one of the things that our group talked about was things like legal graffiti, street art, murals, things like that. That was one of the things we decided to start with. But we also thought it would be amazing to give the students the opportunity to paint the mural because then they have some ownership of that within the city."