It’s wonderful thing when your work inspires someone else to do something creative for love. In 2016, Mac was contacted by a person who admired his Believeland chalk murals, and wondered if hr could help out with a marriage proposal.
Mac drove up to Cleveland the night before the proposal, cleaned the wall, and created this Will you marry me? chalk mural, including the ring to kneel in. We’re happy to report they said “Yes!”
In the mid-20th century, Howard Street was the center of black culture in the bustling Rubber Capital of the World. It was home to many of Akron’s black-owned business and entertainment establishments. In 1920, George Mathews opened his barbershop in Howard Street, and in 1925 opened the Hotel Matthews next door. The hotel became an anchor for the neighborhood, and an iconic destination for the era’s most famous black entertainers, who came to town to perform at many of the “whites only” clubs and hotels, but could not stay there. In the 1960’s, the Howard Street District began to decline and was eventually razed for “urban renewal” in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
Art x Love was engaged to create a mural honoring Akron’s jazz heritage in the old Howard Street District of the city. The mural faces the former site of Hotel Matthews, and depicts Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, nightclub dancers, Cab Calloway, and Louis Armstrong playing together. The vision for the mural remains incomplete, but it still serves as a strong reminder of Akron’s past.
Kevin Blaushild engaged Art x Love to create a large mural for his apartment. After further discussion it was clear that the greatest and most enduring value would come from a large scale painting. Music and yoga are driving passions for Kevin, so we worked on developing a concept with elements that would compliment his past, present, and future aspirations. Seeking a cosmic-level impact, Kevin trusted Mac’s recommendation of a holographic painting.
In 2016, Mac was commissioned by The Historic Warehouse District Development Corporation (HWDDC) to create a new chalk mural underneath Cleveland’s Main Avenue bridge for Ernst & Young. Since 2014, Mac had been creating 10 ft. tall chalk murals at this location across from the main entrance to Ernst & Young Tower, and HWDDC was able to leverage them to raise funds and additional support for their community programs and events.
Ernst & Young’s mural was inspired by brand elements from a range of their marketing materials, and paired with a musical composition to invite multi-sensory consideration and appreciation.
Do you recognize the piece of music?
Major League Baseball TV (MLB TV) wanted to create a time-lapse video of artists painting murals in each of the ALCS and NLCS cities for the televised broadcast of the 2016 playoffs. Art x Love negotiated the location for the Cleveland Indians mural, and created a design that could be completed in 4 hours.
Located in Cleveland's Public Square throughout the playoffs, the "Rally Together" mural went viral as part of a World Series tickets promotion. The painting currently resides with Carlos Carrasco, a former Cleveland Indians starting pitcher and great human being.
The Diamond Deli is one of Akron’s most famous sandwich shops and eateries. Their menu is legendary, and on any given day of the week you may find a smoothly moving line of people stretched out the door and around the corner. They’re that good.
In 2016, Mac created The King of Diamonds for the back wall of the dining area. Based on the overwhelming response the painting received, the owners asked if Mac could do a drawing of their business for a new t-shirt. He sat outside one fall morning and created the sketch that became this ink drawing. Although the art was never used for a t-shirt, it is prominently featured opposite the register and helped inspire our creation of the Akron on Deck playing card set to support local businesses and artists through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Akron kicked off the Civic Commons project in conjunction with GEHL to collaborate with local leaders and residents to learn about, strategize, and develop innovative solutions for the city center's most pressing challenges. Our team was tasked with "Making Main Street More Fun Between Events," or more specifically, getting students and the local workforce to spend time downtown during off-peak hours. Inspired by Akron's history as the former marble capital of the world, we created Lose Your Marble, an interactive kinetic piece of art that would require teams of individuals to move from station to station in the downtown area. We created two prototypes to see if people would be willing to engage in the activity and were pleasantly surprised by the response. With plans to further develop the concept with an incentivized structure to attract more people, and to use higher quality and more reliable materials, we are confident Lose Your Marble can become a signature team-building feature of the Akron.
SCENE Magazine wanted to take their Fall festival fundraiser up a notch for University Hospital's Kids Kicking Cancer. We created a collaborative mural for the 3 day event, inviting attendees to pick a color, grab a brush, and make their mark on Cleveland. More than 300 attendees contributed to the painting. The final work is currently awaiting finalization for installation in a TBD location.
The Schrocks wanted a painting to replace the dark print in their dining room. We reviewed their aesthetic preferences, discussed their aspirational environment, and explored several concepts before arriving at what would become Water Garden. The painting was created in Akron and designed specifically to transport, refine, and install on site in Naples. The Schrocks love it, and have found that the complementary colors and lighting greatly enhance the feeling and movement throughout their home.
Following our mural production and design of Ohio for Hillary’s Akron headquarters, Art x Love was invited to do the same for Barberton.
We created one mural , designed and helped residents and volunteers create four more, and provided creative solutions for use and operations in the space.
Our murals served as an interactive backdrop to reinforce key campaign communications and values during events, and provided an opportunity for the community to share and express their support.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first NBA championship the year our family moved to Akron. To commemorate the occasion, we created an iconic painting to honor Lebron James and his dedication to the Akron community. King of Diamonds was gifted to Akron's Diamond Deli so that local residents could share in this unforgettable celebration.
In the run up to the 2016 election, Art x Love was engaged to volunteer design and support of the Ohio for Hillary headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Our goal was to provide collaborative design solutions that would allow volunteers and residents to participate in the creative development and expression of the campaign.
Art x Love created one mural, designed and supported production of five others which were painted by volunteers, and developed interactive and interior design solutions for use of the entire space.
