WICK NEIGHBORS Artwork to link YSU and Hollow

The Butler is considering providing a large sculpture for the area.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Plans are under way to use art to symbolically link Youngstown State University's campus to a revitalized Smoky Hollow.
George McCloud, head of the of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at YSU, told the Wick Neighbors Inc. on Wednesday that two sets of gates are being made to connect the two areas.
The Butler Institute of American Art also is considering providing a large sculpture as part of the effort, said Louis Zona, the museum's director.
The Wick Neighbors Inc. wants to revitalize the Smoky Hollow neighborhood east of Wick Avenue at an estimated cost of $250 million. The idea is to build homes for those attracted to educational and cultural opportunities to revitalize the downtown.
McCloud spoke at First Presbyterian Church, where the Wick Neighbors met for the first time as a corporation. The educator is a member of the Wick Neighbors' board of trustees and on its marketing, communications and outreach committee.
Symbolic gates
An expansion of YSU's Bliss Hall is nearing completion. The expansion that is on the Smoky Hollow side of the building will include a courtyard with a wrought-iron fence.
The 14-foot-high gates that are being made were created by Greg Moring, an associate professor at YSU. They will depict men working with a caldron of molten iron as part of the Valley's industrial heritage, said McCloud.
Bliss is also a factory in the sense that it produces works of fine art, said McCloud, adding that the gates will symbolize YSU's opening up to the Smoky Hollow area and its residents.
Another set of free-standing gates will be added to the area to further link the two locations, McCloud said. Those gates haven't been designed but will probably be done by Moring, he added.
Zona, who is also a Wick Neighbors trustee, said there are tentative plans for the Butler to loan a large sculpture that would be displayed near Bliss to help connect the two areas. Zona said he has not talked to the artist whose work may be involved.
The expansion of Bliss is expected to be dedicated in October.
In other action, the Wick Neighbors announced it has raised about $420,000 toward its first three-year budget of $750,000.
wilkinson@vindy.com