Elyria Arts Council, Public Library unveil Art Walk

ELYRIA — The Elyria Public Library System's Central Branch will now tell the story of the city through community participation. A new art installation on the outside of the building, through a partnership with the Elyria Arts Council, allows anyone in the city to paint a 4-by-8-foot plywood board and have it featured for the community to see. "When we were doing the murals (in downtown Elyria) people would come up to us on the bucket lift and just start telling their stories while we were painting," Clint Rohrbacher said. "And I said to David, 'It's like we've built a campfire for people to come and sit around and tell their stories.'" Rohrbacher and David Pavlak are both on the Elyria Arts Council's Board of Directors and have been instrumental in painting a number of murals in downtown Elyria and at the new library branch. Through the Art Walk, which opened Saturday, that campfire has expanded to anyone with a positive message to tell, Rohrbacher said. The first panels unveiled Saturday were split between Leaders of Today, the Community Foundation of Lorain County and Lorain County Good Knights, with others planned from the Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services Board and Save Our Children. The assortment of murals will be up for several months at a time, but will change as the Elyria Arts Council receives new works, the pair said. And the submitted panels can be interspersed with metal sheets depicting the previous library's mural — just to keep the artwork rotating regularly. There are no deadlines involved in the submission of new boards, and it's open to any organization — or resident — in the city with something to share. "This is all about Elyria, it's Elyria's story, Elyria's art, it gives everyone ownership for the downtown we're re-creating," Rohrbacher said.