Artist hopes new mural in Steubenville will help bring change
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STEUBENVILLE -- Artist Kyle Holbrook's latest work, a mural he just finished inside the entrance to Northend Market, is, he admits, a statement piece.
Holbrook, a Wilkinsburg native now making his home in Miami, has painted murals in 49 U.S. states and 49 countries.
The 15 foot-by-nine foot art piece at Northend Market showcases several of Steubenville's best-known landmarks -- Harding Stadium, the railroad bridge and Man O' War, the Big Red stallion -- surrounding a black Statue of Liberty, a "Stop Gun Violence" logo and a pair of hands flashing the peace symbol doing double-duty as a kid selfie station.
"It correlates with my mom and dad being educators," said Holbrook, 45. "I always (try) to do something historical or speak to social issues. With this one, in particular, I wanted to really capture (the importance of it) and I wanted people to have pride in it, with recognized landmarks like the stadium and the bridge, but with a peace message right in the middle. Sometimes the most positive messages are subconscious ... people will see the Big Red things, but I hope that when they walk away, subconsciously, the (urgency) stays with them."
Holbrook said he and Northend Market owners Tyrone Hall and his partner, Danielle Thomas, "talked about doing something during Juneteenth weekend and to really do something and say something positive, especially because it is Gun Violence Awareness Month."
"I think bringing attention and bringing more awareness to this epidemic (is critical)," he said. "And I've been all around the country and seeing how, from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, gun violence is going up and so I wanted to do something right here, in the entryway, so people could see it through the window 24 hours a day."
Holbrook said the mural's theme "highlights positivity and some of the beautiful things that go on here in Steubenville, but then it also sends that message to be aware because obviously gun violence is not going to stop with a mural, but a mural can bring attention to it. And the more people that are aware of it, the more people can help (bring change)."
He describes it as a "visual representation" of what the community told him they wanted to see on the mural, which he started and finished on the Juneteenth weekend.
"I'm not anti-gun but I'm anti-gun violence," he said. "I can understand there needs to be some guns for protection, but we don't need machine guns for hunting. (I feel like) we're a little too gun crazy in this country."
His convictions -- and his love of art -- prompted him in 2002 to start a foundation, the MLK Center. He said the MLK Center -- an acronym for Moving Lives of Kids, is about a lot more than art. "It's mentorships, it's entrepreneurs, it's role models ... people doing stuff in the community and creating safe places."
"We have a curriculum that goes through the steps of creating a mural and ... a possible career in the arts, whether it's web design, graphic design, photography, fashion," he said.
"We do some of the solutions, which is mentorships, and provide some cognizance to some other possibilities. And I think Ty is doing some great things in the community providing a safe place. You know, during this past weekend with Juneteenth ... they had all kinds of people out here, kids playing, food and so we did the mural and you know, (it says) 'We're safe here' and there's opportunity to send a positive message."
Holbrook said he always wanted to be an artist, and his educator parents encouraged his creativity.
"As early as I remember ... I drew pictures for my family, I drew Care Bears for the girls in kindergarten. I always wanted to be an artist. I guess when you're younger, you don't think about work. But I always had aspirations to be an artist ... I remember the last job I had was in telemarketing. At the time I'd just started a clothing line, I'd do something specific to each neighborhood, I'd do popular areas, then I'd go there and just open up my trunk and sell them. It was good -- that's when I realized I could make a living off of it. I was making more from selling those than I did during working hours."
He trained at the former Art Institute in Pittsburgh, majoring in graphic design.
"Steubenville is a great mural city," he said. "You know, I've done murals in 43 countries and 49 of our states and you know, for a smaller city, Steubenville, is on the map for murals. And so I've been coming here, been a fan of the murals. I've known some artists that have lived (around here)."
Hall said the store and the mural are just the start: Next up is an auto detailing business "and possibly in the next five years, do like a community center for the kids and have programs, after school programs and things of that nature." And he's hoping through jobs, skills and entrepreneurship training he "can be part of the solutions to gun violence."
Holbrook said his personal crusade against gun violence began years back when he realized most of his childhood friends had fallen victim to it. He said the Northend Market mural is all about positivity "and some of the beautiful things that go on here in Steubenville, but then it also sends that message to be aware."
"Obviously, gun violence is not going to stop with a mural, but a mural can bring attention to it," Holbrook said. "And the more people that are aware of it, the more people that can help."
He said several youth groups have been started in communities inspired by his murals, and admits he likes the idea of being a catalyst for change.
"I couldn't hope for more," he said. "A mural is not going to do anything by itself, but it can inspire people. And doing murals around the country ... I'm hoping people might say if this guy can do it, maybe we can, too."