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Downtown Warsaw is a bit more colorful after Wednesday’s unveiling of two utility box murals by local artists Lia Geiger and Amani Rodriguez.
Kicking off the unveiling ceremony, Main Street Warsaw Downtown Development Director Terry Sweeney said, “We launched our Cultural District Arts Plan for downtown earlier this year .... and since that time, we’ve been working with the city of Warsaw and our community partners to implement the plan. These murals are the first projects that we’re unveiling as part of that plan, and it’s very exciting.”
He said they partnered with the Warsaw Public Arts Commission (WPAC) on the utility box murals.
Suzie Light, Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) strategic partner, Main Street Warsaw Board and WPAC member, said the WPAC and Main Street Warsaw “are really excited about this project. Fifteen artists submitted their concept of what a utility box wrap would look like, and we are thrilled (with the) two very talented artists that were selected for this project.”
She told the other artists who were not selected not to lose hope. “We have future utility boxes coming. So stay tuned for those!”
She thanked all those who served on the selection committee and did the work of reviewing everything.
“And, thanks, artists, for participating in this wonderful project for our community,” Light stated.
Sweeney pointed out Landon Paris and Maddi Mester, from Blue River Digital, took the works of art, created the graphic design and applied it to the wraps. “This team worked really to get them on,” he said.
The “call for artists” for the murals stated they wanted “an uplifting message, something that helped create the appreciation for art in the community and helped us achieve our Cultural District vision,” Sweeney said. “In addition to that, the committee thought that these folks, Lia Geiger and Amani Rodriguez, that their works actually met that criteria most. And you’ll see that they both have a welcoming, uplifting and positive vibe to them, and a real good message, and something that we’re excited to unveil.”
Before unveiling her piece, titled “Know Love & Share it,” Geiger said, “I’m really grateful for this opportunity, and I’m very excited to see more art downtown. The only reason I submitted anything was because of the kindness and encouragement from someone, and that really inspired the work. I hope it inspires the people who see it to share kindness and encouragement to those around them. Thank you so much.”
Rodriguez’s art is titled “Be Thy Self.”
Before his art’s unveiling, he said, “Thank you, guys, for coming out. The purpose of this piece was kind of to represent being true to one’s self, and also taking life one day at a time and enjoying the moment. I hope the community can look at this piece and find joy in it, and also relate to it just a little bit. I’m really blessed and happy that I am able to do this for you guys, and I’m glad that you all could be here to share in this experience.”
On each art piece is a QR Code. Sweeney said if you scan it, it’ll take you to the Downtown Warsaw Cultural District Plan with information on the art and video interviews of the artists.
After the ceremony and the photos, both artists did interviews with local media.
Geiger, 35, of Warsaw, is a graphic designer, having gone to University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne. Her art - which is on the utility box at the corner of Buffalo and Center streets - chosen for the utility box wasn’t her first idea.
“So my original idea, actually, failed. I wanted to create like an aerial landscape of Warsaw - like crops and tractor and all that, because I like to, with my work, try to be - I focus on trying to be clever and find what the forms look like and then create something around it. And, I almost gave up, but then I just went back to the only reason I was doing it, was because a friend encouraged me to do it. So, I let that be the inspiration and kind of looked at it again with a new perspective and saw an old post box, and I saw that I could create like more of a message to look at your phone less. A letter by hand of encouragement. Use your words in person. And, just know love and share it with those around you because that’s ultimately the only reason that I did this, was encouragement,” she explained.
Seeing the final result Wednesday - her first public installation - was the first time she saw it.
“I think it’s great. I want to give a huge shoutout to the person who installed it, because it was not only rain that I saw him in installing Amani’s, had to stop midway, but then it was sweltering heat whenever I drove by whenever he was doing mine, and I can’t imagine adhering something that sticky in that amount of heat. He’s the real hero, I think!” Geiger said.
Though she’s a mom first, the utility box art project was a wonderful creative outlet for her that she said was much needed because she is an artist as well. Her personal work currently can be found on toasthead.co on Instagram. She’s hoping to participate in some more community events in the future.
Rodriguez, 20, moved to Warsaw about seven years ago from Cleveland. He graduated from Warsaw Community High School about 1-1/2 years ago. His art is on the utility box in front of Key Bank at the corner of Center and Indiana streets.
He found out about the Call for Artists for the utility boxes from neighbors.
“Actually, my neighbors, Scott and Deb, they read the local paper and they saw that ad for submissions in the paper, and they actually left the news on my windshield on my car and they saw it one morning, so I kind of took initiative on it and try to work on it during a bit of a busier time,” Rodriguez said.
He submitted his art the day it was due, having worked on it for the two weeks prior. “They (Scott and Deb) were the ones who presented the opportunity,” Rodriguez stated.
When he first heard about it and tried to understand the concept behind it, the first step he took was to go downtown and look at both of the boxes in person. He let the vibe take over from there.
“So a lot of inspiration of it was from music I listen to, things I saw. But then, obviously, the positive energy aspect of it. So, just creating something that represented daily living and enjoying every moment, was kind of my goal,” Rodriguez said.
When he saw the end result Wednesday, his initial reaction, he said, was, “Wow! It came out a lot better than I thought. It was just a lot cleaner than I thought it would be. The people who installed it did a really great job.”
On the side facing Key Bank is a cardinal. The side facing Center street has a cool frog. “I think it’s just one of those things where you’d think it would be cool to see a frog in headphones with a coffee cup. Sometimes, there’s not too much deep thinking into things, it’s just that’d be cool, and then it ends up speaking for itself in the end,” Rodriguez said.
He said he’s always been an artist, and watching digital art “become a thing,” he got into it a bit. He learned more about it, picking it up, while not losing traditional art.
One day, Rodriguez hopes to go full-time with his art.
“I’m definitely trying to get to the point where I can make a career out of art, and I’m hoping that some of the opportunities that present themselves soon will kind of add to that dream and make it a reality one day,” he stated.
