Bobby Rosenstock of JustAJar Design Press in Marietta presented the first talk in a Heritage Ohio workshop for Main Street representatives from around the state. The session Wednesday at Peoples Bank Theatre showcased how Marietta Main Street uses its mural program and public art initiative to beautify the city, boost tourism and foster a sense of community. (Photo by Nancy Taylor)

Marietta’s outdoor art is like a mullet haircut, Bobby Rosenstock said. It’s neat and tidy in the front, where it needs to be, and gets funkier in the back.

Rosenstock doesn’t wear a mullet but he knows of what he speaks.

He is active in the arts life of the city and one of the invested members of Main Street Marietta’s Public Art Committee. When he uses the mullet analogy, he means that public art needs to have a sense of responsibility to its setting. An historic building calls for a painterly, classic presentation. But if you’re doing a big garage space, it can party a little, visit the experimental side.

Rosenstock has other interesting thoughts about public art, and he shared many of them Wednesday in the first session of a Heritage Ohio workshop for Main Street representatives from around the state. Rosenstock spoke on “The Value of Public Art in Downtown Marietta.” He was followed by Jordana Bungard on “The Process of Selecting Public Art Projects” and Alix Northrup discussing “Best Practices for Artist Collaborations.”

Marietta is a great Main Street group to discuss these topics, according to Heritage Ohio Executive Director Matt Wiederhold, who was in town for the program at Peoples Bank Theatre. There are 22 accredited Main Street programs and 31 affiliates in Ohio, he said.

The highest Main Street certification requires four training sessions annually, addressing the needs and interests of each of the four committees every Main Street has: design, promotion, economic vitality and organization. The Marietta session was a design category training. The Public Art Committee, though, is a separate creation of Marietta Main Street, revamped about four years ago and going strong every since. Rosenstock points out that Marietta Main Street won the Heritage Ohio 2021 and 2022 Project of the Year awards for murals, one for the River Trail tunnel and one for the parking garage between Front and Second streets.

“This city has a very rich and vibrant arts community,” Wiederhold said, “and it’s outstanding how they have incorporated public art into such a positive force.”

Rosenstock said it has been great, building a relationship with city officials and with the community.

“At first there was some wariness and hesitation,” he said. “But the response has been so positive.”

Another aspect of Marietta outdoor art where fears have largely evaporated involves graffiti. In Rosenstock’s experience, and his knowledge of how things have gone in other cities, he thinks there’s positive evidence that graffiti is lessened by cleaning up and fixing up outdoor spaces. Then outdoor arts experiences create an energy that brings artists together, and then they are able to brighten entire communities.

The mural the Public Art Committee organized at the River Trail tunnel/bike path under the Putnam Bridge is an example.

“We did cover it with anti-graffiti spray,” Rosenstock said of the artwork, but despite the fears, there has only been one incident of graffiti and they were able to clean it up. “People seem to love that mural.”

The Public Art Committee is a volunteer group. Although it is connected to Main Street Marietta, it does not take money from there. It raises money for projects in a number of creative ways. There have been First Friday T-shirt sales where the buyer can choose the artwork as well as the shirt size and color. The choice is then produced right there on the site. There are coloring books and stickers already produced. There are plans for a possible live painting auction.

In all of this, Rosenstock conveys inclusiveness, an eagerness to engage artists, business owners and community members who are not necessarily on the Public Art Committee or members of Main Street, but who share creative dreams and drives. In late March and early April, local residents will see the “Your Art Here” project start to come to life.

Free-standing steel sculptures from Todd Morrow of Resolve Studio will serve as the frames for hanging 3×5 double-sided pieces of art in specified flower beds along the bike path. Six pieces will be chosen from among 92 applications. Those pieces chosen for the outdoor art gallery will be up at least two years, although the frames are designed to accommodate changing displays at some point. That project took some re-thinking and extended working with the city, as right-of-ways were involved.

They’ve learned that being a middleman with artists and business owners and city representatives can take a lot of work, he said. They’ve found the projects can take a long time to come together — maybe a year or more. But not to worry.

“We’re still figuring things out,” Rosenstock said, “We’re learning on the fly.”