Art This Way and Downtown Improvement District are pleased to announce muralists Lyndy Bazile, Jeff Pilkinton, Bryan Ballinger, Raul Perez and Sky Rodriguez will be installing murals at 222 Pearl Street from August 16 through September 12, 2020.

The theme of the 222 Pearl Street projects is inclusion. Art This Way is collaborating with local organizations and businesses who are making a difference in our community. Our partners in this project are Utopian Coffee, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana, Turnstone Center for Children & Adults with Disabilities, AWS Foundation, Flagstar Foundation, Fort Wayne Metals, Center for Nonviolence, and Lutheran Life Villages.

Lyndy Bazile’s design proposal was selected for the Art This Way Emerging Artist award. She is a studio artist and graduate of University of Saint Francis, SOCA. When asked about the project, Bazile states, “I look forward to installing my first large scale, outdoor mural and am so grateful to Art This Way for the opportunity!” The community can follow Lyndy Bazile on Instagram at @afroplump. This mural is powered by your Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District.

Raul Perez’s design was selected for the Center For Nonviolence Mural. When asked how he feels about painting his first mural, Perez stated, “I am thrilled to be given the chance to paint my first mural in Downtown Fort Wayne and share art that inspires others to have empathy and help others.”

Elka Jackson, the Center for Nonviolence Grant Manager states, “We’re thrilled and humbled to have been chosen as a featured organization for this year’s Art This Way mural project. Our vision at the Center is to create homes, communities, and a world free of violence and oppression, and there is no doubt that Raul’s amazing design will be a beautiful visual representation of that vision. We’re extremely excited to see the Center, our founders, our staff, and most importantly the people we serve honored in this way.” The community can follow Raul Perez on Instagram @cyfclothing. This mural is powered by your Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District.

Bryan Ballinger’s design was selected for the Turnstone Center Mural. Bryan Ballinger is based in Huntington, IN, and he is a professor of digital media arts and animation at Huntington University. Ballinger has installed two other murals in Downtown Fort Wayne. Ballinger states, “I am so jazzed to do this mural! To be able to be a part of the amazing Fort Wayne creative community in this visual way is awesome! I am also a big fan of what the Turnstone organization is doing, so that makes this project all the more special.”

Turnstone’s Chief Development Officer, Rena Shown states, “We appreciate the opportunity to amplify people with disabilities and their values through this project. It’s bold, creative and certainly going to help people talk more openly about disabilities and accepting people who have them in our community.” The community can follow Bryan Ballinger on Instagram at @breadwig. This mural is powered by AWS Foundation.

Jeff Pilkinton’s design was selected for the Art This Way Hoosier Artist award! Pilkinton has lived in Fort Wayne for 40 years, and he regularly participates in the Fort Wayne Museum of Art Chalk Walk. Pilkinton states, “As a Local Fort Wayne artist I am beyond thrilled and honored to have been chosen to help beautify our great city. I love what Art this Way and Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District is doing and how they support the arts. I’m so happy to be a part of this.” The community can follow Jeff Pilkinton on Instagram at @jeffpilkinton or his website, www.jeffpilkinton.com. This mural is powered by Fort Wayne Metals.

Sky Rodriguez’s proposal was selected for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Mural. Rodriguez is a former ‘Little’ and this is her first outdoor mural. Rodriguez wanted to add, “I am very excited to create a mural for the Art This Way project because my piece represents an inspiring program that I was a part of, and the people I knew/know from Big Brothers Big Sisters has helped shape me into the person I am today. This mural will gives me the opportunity to spread my work and leave a mark on the city I love.” This mural is powered by your Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District.

Special thanks to Brendon Maxwell, Utopian Coffee, Utopian Coffee + Kitchen, and The Landing Beer Co. for their support of this project.

Fort Wayne has a rich and growing collection of public art. We encourage you to visit Downtown Fort Wayne with your family and explore what our city has to offer! To explore our city’s public art we encourage you to use Visit Fort Wayne’s Public Art Map.

Art This Way is a program of the Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District. The overarching goal of the Art This Way program is to activate public spaces, beautify Downtown, encourage economic development, and improve the pedestrian experience in Downtown Fort Wayne, IN. Art This Way program has installed ten projects within the 99 blocks of Downtown Fort Wayne. In 2020 the program will install another nine projects.