June 14, 2021 - The City of Fort Wayne’s Public Arts Commission will unveil a series of murals featuring Hometown heroes called Faces of the Fort. The project focuses on celebrating the culture of Fort Wayne’s diverse population by preserving the history of Fort Wayne's diverse neighborhoods while highlighting people who have made contributions to the advancement of civil rights.
Artists used stories submitted by residents about community leaders who have contributed to social justice efforts to create the Faces of the Fort murals. Faces of the Fort was a conceptual project suggestion in the Public Art Master Plan, Art for All, and is the first project the Public Art Commission has initiated.
“Giving us the opportunity to see people who are doing good and going above and beyond in our community is huge,” said Ann Peterson. “The more positivity we can show, hopefully the more it will lead to.”
“We think having a mural on our building is something that will look nice and inspire people in the community,” said Ammar Saleh. “That community resident will see the people featured on the wall and want to emulate them. I think it’s going to show people, especially the younger people, an example of the type of people who are impacting the community in big way.”
A committee comprised of members from the Fort Wayne Public Art Commission, local arts organizations, neighborhood groups, the African/African-American Historical Society, the immigrant and refugee community and the LGBTQ community selected artists to paint the murals, which will be designed based in part on the stories submitted by residents.
The following murals are scheduled for the summer of 2021:
- SE Quadrant – 4335 S Anthony Blvd
- Mural Artist: Kacy Jackson - The Art Of Kacy | Your All In One Art Provider
- SW Quadrant – 1818 Bluffton Road
- Mural Artist: Mitchell Egly - Murals | eglyillo (wixsite.com)
- NE Quadrant– 1514 St. Joseph Blvd
- Mural Artist: Benjamin Duke - benjamin duke (bendukeart.com)