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"Unbound" Mural Takes Shape in the West End of Huntington

Last Updated 6/21/2023

Mayor Steve Williams' Vision

When you make your next trip to Central City, you will notice a new work of art on 14th Street West. The City of Huntington announced to Facebook today (6/21/2023) that local Artist, Sassa Wilkes, has completed another beautiful mural.

They stated, "Artist Sassa Wilkes has completed another beautiful mural as part of Mayor Steve Williams' long-standing vision to create an arts and culture district in the West End (more public art announcements coming soon). This mural is located on the side of the building located at 725 14th Street West."

Words from the Artist

Sassa Wilkes is a trans queer Appalachian Artist with a passion for creating art and learning alongside others in my community. He is currently an artist in residency at West Edge Studios here in the West End. Sassa said "Unbound" was created as one part of a two-year residency at the West Edge Factory. He said, " The theme for the work done during that residency was “healing," and in my experience, there is nothing more healing than unbound creative expression. Making something just for the joy of creating is where it’s at."

"The color palette was picked directly from photos of glass in Central City antique shops. Once we mixed the colors, Barb Lavalley Benton and I painted large sheets of polytab with nothing but that in-the-moment joy in mind. We carefully chose our favorite sections and cut out the colorful orbs that were then applied with acrylic adhesive. Some of the lower colorful orbs were painted by artists in Barb’s “Art From Within” workshops. Funded by the Tamarack Foundation for the Arts, these workshops give artists from the special-needs community a space to learn, create and discover their own creative spirits."

"'Unbound' continues the hands theme seen in the large mural that I recently completed at West Edge. It’s taken the hard work of so many creative hands to make Central City what it is becoming. I wanted the focal point to be one giant pair of hands to symbolize this collective effort, and I chose to use Margaret Mary Layne's (chairwoman of the Mayor's Council for the Arts) hands as a reference. She has done so much for the arts in this area, and is an inspiring mentor to me personally. I see her as a facilitator and organizer of intense collective creativity, which made her hands perfect to reference for this piece."

"It is my hope that this mural inspires others to engage with the creative spirit that we each have within us. This mural was made possible by The National Endowment for the Arts, RenewAll, Coalfield Development and the Foundation for the Tri-State Community."

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