FREMONT, Ohio — The city of Fremont is getting more art to liven up downtown, all made by local artists.
Local artists took advantage of the warmer than average temperatures this week to bring more color to downtown Fremont.
This is the second year of the Fremont River Wall Mural initiative, aimed to bring more public art to the community.
"Where could we add continuous murals that everyone would enjoy and that could be seen from several different vantage points?" said Kristie Bilger, executive director of Downtown Fremont Inc.
Last year, one 26-foot section was upgraded with a walleye mural. This year, enough funding was promised by sponsors to fill in two sections of the river wall.
The goal is to eventually cover the river wall with murals from State Street to Hayes Avenue five blocks away.
Then muralists will set their sights on the wall on the north side of State Street.
Each mural is submitted by the artists and sponsors of the Crop Circle Art and Music Festival pay for the cost.
"We've had applications from people who may live in Florida or Michigan, but they are originally from Fremont or have a tie to Fremont," said Bilger.
"Anywhere that I can paint, I'm always looking at things and I want to be just like, 'Let me paint on that,'" said mural artist Emma Lehmann.
Lehman, the owner of The Open House gallery, painted the first walleye mural and is now painting a second, depicting a stained glass cabbage.
Lehmann said this project is great for a variety of artists and skill levels and she hopes it can inspire not only more people in Fremont, but throughout the region to beautify where they live.
"Potential for other projects in the area. People might see this from another small town, or another area in town and be like, 'I want to get something going like this,'" said Lehmann.
"I just think it's great to have beautiful art in our downtown and celebrate our local people," said Bilger. "That's my biggest gist is to celebrate and get artists paid for their work, it's a big part of it. And have things that we see every day maybe look a little more beautiful."
If you're a local artist and have a connection to the city of Fremont, you can submit your idea HERE.
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