The warmer weather is bringing more murals to Logansport

Jun. 19—Summer is coming to Logansport, and so are a few murals.

Two have been finished in the last week.

The most visible is downtown on the north side of Legacy Outfitters/Black Dog Coffee, 116 S. Sixth St., and will have a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. June 24.

The other has gone up inside Logansport Skate World and Fun Center, 2625 E. Market St.

The downtown mural is one of two projects by the Logansport High School summer art class, the sixth year they've created murals around town.

Previous projects by the students started first at Tower/Muehlhausen Park, and they include the mural on the east wall of Fernbaugh's Diamonds and Fine Jewelry, 416 E. Broadway, and the mural inside the Humane Society building.

Last year, the students painted the murals on Sixth Street celebrating Logansport and the mural at the Little Turtle Waterway.

This year, the 21 students in the class will also paint a three-panel mural of three iconic musicians for the inside of the coming Bonus Pints, 422 E. Broadway.

People can vote on Bonus Pints' Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bonuspints) for which three they want out of Lemmy Kilmister, David Bowie, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Joey Ramone or Black Sabbath-era Ozzy Osbourne.

The summer mural class is run by Logansport High School art teachers Amy Warner and Sandy Gaier.

They secured a grant from the Tippecanoe Arts Federation for the outside mural, and Ivy Tech of Indianapolis Adjunct Professor Hector Del Campo designed and helped lead the students through the painting process.

Del Campo said that the new Legacy/Black Dog mural is an abstract interpretation of France Park, one of the local highlights he found when researching the area.

He came in with the design, but the students decided on the colors together with him.

Although Del Campo has plenty of murals, this is the first he's done in a few years.

"It was too awesome to turn down," he said.

For Levi Sutton, who'll be a sophomore in the coming school year, this is the second time he's taken the summer mural class.

"It was fun last year, so I decided I would do it again this year," Sutton said.

Last school year, he took intro to 2D art, intro to 3D art, advanced 2D art and advanced 3D art, but he's not looking to become a full-time artist.

"It's just something I do on the side for fun," he said.

The class was also the first time for incoming freshmen Emma Brown and Micah Rogers, as well as their first high school class.

They both plan to take the class next summer, and Rogers is considering taking art classes during the school year.

Scott Johnson, owner of Legacy/Black Dog, sees the mural as a way for the students to make an impact on their hometown.

"They're now connected to this place forever," Johnson said.

This isn't the first mural he's had at his business.

There's one inside behind the coffee counter and one in the bathroom, and on the back of the building, there are Anasazi petroglyph-style figures painted along boards.

Warner said she and Gaier talked with Johnson last summer about using his blank northern wall for the next project, and he was excited about it.

Johnson, also a retired Logansport High School science teacher, said, "we had a space where there was nothing, and we always want to turn nothing into something."

Marissa Bergstedt, Manager at Black Dog, said, "It's a beautiful space to do it, and it helps with the students. And it works with Scott's roots: getting students out into the community," Bergstedt said.

The mural behind the counter is connected to the one at Logansport Skate World, which is named "Skate World."

Logansport resident Sienna Urbina painted that one and oversaw "Skate World" with help from interns and friends, including Audia Anders, Haley Holycross, Adrian Gazcon, Oscar Toloza, Chardonnay Clark and Blake Stewardson.

"Skate World" was done with glow-in-the-dark paint, which reacts when blacklights are turned on.

Urbina is also responsible for the mural on the fence of 2300 Third Street, just north of Broadway, and has been involved with murals in Kokomo, including on the Markland Mall.

She also has other projects planned for summer.

"I am doing a mural for the Civic Players [of Logansport] building, and then I am looking into a grant for an external mural at the Record Farm," Urbina stated in an email.

Reach James D. Wolf Jr. at james.wolf@pharostribune.com or 574-732-5117

Twitter @JamesDWolfJr