This artist's interpretation is bright for the future of the Mahoning Valley

The artist works to draw people downtown.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- Bob Barko Jr. has an artist's view of the Mahoning Valley, and its future.
"All the inspiration I need is right here," says Barko. "I could draw a picture a day and not scratch the possibilities that are here."
The wealth of subjects from the Valley's past is one reason Barko didn't move on to New York or Los Angeles. He's a 1993 graduate of Youngstown State University with a graphic design/studio art major and a computer graphics minor.
He's also a native of Youngstown's North Side who later lived in Niles, Austintown and Boardman. For almost three years, he's been promoting downtown Youngstown.
Barko runs Steel Town Studios at 8 N. Phelps St., a nonprofit establishment that sells limited editions and prints of his art of Idora Park, Mill Creek Park and other cultural and historic sites.
His art graces note cards and plaques. He also produces sweatshirts and shirts showing Youngstown's skyline. He likes what he sees, and that's reflected in his art.
"Out of the 60 counties that I've been to in Ohio," he noted, "we have one of the nicest looking skylines."
Work gets around
Barko's shirts and their owners have gone to Europe, South America and South Africa.
When it comes to similar promotional items for Youngstown, Barko notes, "There's not a lot of it out there. But there is an inherent pride here and there are just some great people here."
The shirts state his belief: They read, in small text, "A Thought for the New Century -- If We Build it, They Will Come."
Says Barko, "It's just like 'Field of Dreams.'"
In the movie, a struggling farmer builds a baseball diamond that draws huge crowds. Barko has turned his attention to drawing people downtown, and he lives what he preaches.
He lives in Smoky Hollow, where Wick Neighbors want to add more homes, apartments and condominiums. He's also promoting the development of the west end of the city as an entertainment district and is the event coordinator of Youngstown's First Night event.
Barko said people from other areas see potential here, though some local residents do not. The artist noted that he's too young to remember when the local steel industry was thriving.
Barko said some people think, "'Hey, that's the way it is, and if it's not that again, we don't want anything else.' Then there are other people that are like, 'Well, it's not going to be the way it was, but we have that vision and blueprint for it to become something else.'
Believes in potential
"We've had a long hard spell, but people still remember the old, good times," he said. "I think when you start talking to a lot of people, they would like to see something of that nature back down here again. I've been so many places I can't believe that we don't have the potential to do it."
Redevelopment of the city, Barko said, is "kind of all coming at the same time." Barko believes the proposed civic center project and existing attractions, like the Butler Institute of American Art, give local redevelopment an edge over other communities.
"We have more than a lot of these other downtown areas that have made a comeback," he said. "We just have to have a little faith."
The Smoky Hollow project could bring more than 1,000 residents to the downtown, he estimates. And he believes the city's plan to reopen Federal Plaza will improve access to the downtown.
"So you go to a concert, you go to a trade show, you go to a hockey game, you go to whatever you go to. Well, then what do you want to do?" Barko said. "Maybe you get something to eat, maybe I want to go to a little shop I can't go to elsewhere. Maybe I go get a beverage. Those are all things people have said."
Previous downtown redevelopment plans called for high-tech businesses and making sports cars. But Barko said one of the things he's most excited about with the latest effort "is that the redevelopment plans are for everybody."
The idea of inclusiveness is reflected in his philosophy about his artwork. Barko said people have urged him to increase his prices. "That's not the point," he stressed. Everyone who wants a reminder of Idora Park or Mill Creek Park should be able to be able to afford it, he said.
Believes in redevelopment
While some redevelopment projects will cost millions of dollars, Barko believes that redevelopment is doable. "There's nothing we have that with a little vision, a little hard work and some cooperation that can't be overcome with minimal effort," he said.
Renovation of his present location cost only a few hundred dollars, and downtown rents "are incredibly reasonable," he said.
He's found the downtown is full of beautiful churches, numerous restaurants and events. Doomsayers about the city's future, said Barko, "detract you from the mission at hand."
Instead, at his studio, people can look at an item from the past.
"I show them stuff and they talk about their hopes," Barko said. "And I can plant a little seed that can help us in the future."
wilkinson@vindy.com