By Syann Ellis / Jambar Contributor
Through various programs offered by Cliffe College of Creative Arts, students are coming together to foster creativity, promote inclusivity and engage residents to transform Youngstown into a hub of artistic expression.
Junior Jamie Beasley and senior De’Janae Oliver are both studio art students who have worked on murals for the campus and Youngstown businesses.
Beasley has worked on three murals, which includes two for Purple Cat and one for Trek Coffee House.
“Dragana [Crnjack] was one of my first teachers here,” Beasley said, “She runs the mural painting program and was willing to let me take the class ahead of time, which pushed me to want to pursue mural painting as one of my main careers.”
Beasley is mostly a 3D artist, but also has experience with illustration and painting.
“With murals, I realized that I like spray paint a lot more than traditional painting and I want to make spray paint my main focus with the murals,” Beasley said.
Beasley explained the collaboration with small businesses to create the mural.
“With companies, they tend to describe what they want as a business. But with the mural for Trek Coffee House, we had some community members join us in pitching and brainstorming ideas and then asking what they wanted,” Beasley said.
Beasley said the process usually stems from the main focus of the mural, and he plans different compositions to convey what the business likes.
“With the Purple Cat mural, I had more artistic freedom because of how long I have worked with the company, and the owner trusted me to do what I wanted,” Beasley said. “The owner wanted a graffiti style, so we further pushed that graffiti theme, while incorporating some illustrations and phrases associated with the company.”
Oliver worked on a mural for Graphic Services in the Kilcawley Student Center for Welcome Week.
“The ones I have done in the past were chalk murals, which I had never done before, but they were for events on campus,” Oliver said.
Both students said they received positive feedback on their murals from the community and students.
“There’s a lot of happiness in the community that comes from the fact that there’s a mural now and public displays of art. When you’re working on the mural, people tend to honk and say hi and express how much they love it, and it’s a great feeling,” Beasley said. “Having people who truly appreciate the art is a great feeling because we tend not to get that as much outside of our own communities.”
Oliver also expressed the positive feedback she received from the director of Kilcawley, who said he loved her chalk mural of Pete the Penguin.
Both students said they plan to continue pursuing art.
“I want to get my portfolio out there and see if I can find other ventures in the area through different businesses and companies that might showcase my work,” Beasley said. “I’m putting quite a few of my works in the holiday show coming up that was sent out to all the [CCCA] students.”
Oliver explained her excitement about her upcoming work and projects.
“Upcoming projects that I have are for my senior project, and that concept and collection is titled ‘Girls on the Block,’” Oliver said. “’Girls on the Block’ is about sisterhood and unity. I’ve always wanted to do something that represents me and other African American women.”
