TOLEDO, Ohio — The massive mural on the Maumee River received attention on the national stage Sunday morning with a profile on CBS Sunday Morning, featuring the Glass City River Wall from conception to current day in a four-minute segment.
The stretch of 28 grain silos, owned by a company called ADM, is being spruced up with a 160,000 sq. ft. mural, featuring sunflowers and swirls of blue.
ADM's mission is to feed the world - a goal that the art project's operation manager, Nicole Leboutillier, aligns perfectly with the installation's theme of the first farmers, Native Americans and economic development.
The theme was developed after the Glass City River Wall team, filled with community members of all backgrounds, found a stone monument along the river, commemorating the area as a Native American fortification.
The artwork is being painted by Gabe Gault, a creator out of California. He said he believes he can use his art to tell a powerful story for the Glass City.
“I want to tell a story that is colorful, bold, simple and readable,” he said. “My objective is to offer both an origin story, which honors the original farmers of the region, as well as providing an inspirational image for the future: a cornucopia of abundance and prosperity which speaks to ADM’s corporate governance and philanthropic contributions.”
Leboutillier says this ties into the theme of the mural perfectly.
"Their mission is feeding the world and it tied in really nicely with the fact that this is a project about the first farmers and Native Americans and economic development," said Leboutillier.
Project manager Christina Kasper said they came up with the theme of the mural after their team found a stone monument along the Maumee River, commemorating the area as a Native American fortification.
Kasper said the team knew this was the perfect way to honor Toledo's Native Americans.
"They were the first farmers in this region. They were the first people to recognize what really makes us prosperous to this day and that is the value of the Maumee River," Kasper said.