Drive to save Rayen mural takes off

Efforts to raise the 20,000 to 25,000 needed for the job are under way.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN --The drive to save the 65-foot long mural that adorns an auditorium wall at The Rayen School is moving into full swing.
Harry Mays of Boardman, president of the Class of 1958 at Rayen, which raised money to have the historic painting done, is heading a fund drive to raise money to save it from the wrecking ball.
Rayen, erected in 1922, is scheduled to be razed at the end of this school year to make way for a new middle school.
Mays brought up the plight of the mural at a city board of education meeting in August, asking the board to take steps to save it -- pointing out that it depicts 100 years of Rayen and Youngstown history from 1858 to 1958.
It was painted by John J. Benninger, an art teacher at Rayen at the time, and Mays said his class raised the 600 to 700 needed to buy the materials.
Student artists assisted Benninger, he recalled.
Mays decided not to wait for the board to take action. Feeling that alumni should get involved in the effort to save the mural, he began contacting them about the project.
"I think we have a pretty good start," he told the board at a meeting this month.
Can be removed
He and others consulted an art conservator and learned that the mural, which is painted on canvas, can be safely removed from the wall and restored, he said.
The estimated cost of the job is between 20,000 and 25,000, Mays said, telling the board, "It's not going to cost you a dime."
The alumni will raise the funds, hoping to gather more than 25,000 so that any unknown costs may be covered, he said.
People wishing to donate to the restoration effort can send checks made out to the "Youngstown City Schools" and send them in care of "Save The Rayen Mural" to Carolyn Funk, Treasurer, P.O. Box 550, 20 W. Wood St., Youngstown, Ohio 44501.
Mays said it was much easier and faster to run the fundraising through the school district than to go through the legal process of setting up a nonprofit organization to deal with the money.
Kicking it off
The Rayen Foundation gave the group 1,000 to start the fundraising effort, he said.
Letters soliciting contributions are being sent, and at least two local banks have expressed interest in the project, he said.
The mural has real educational value to the community, Mays said. In addition to its historic significance, the restoration effort itself can be an educational experience for Youngstown schoolchildren, he said.
Pupils in the art department can document and study the conservation process as well as assist in the actual work, he said.
The science department can get involved in the study of chemicals used in the restoration process and the shop department can be involved in building scaffolding and whatever else is needed for the project, he said.
The journalism department can research the mural and write the story of its restoration, he suggested.
Mays said he would like to see the mural placed in the new middle school at the Rayen site, and Tony DeNiro, assistant superintendent for school business affairs, said the architect on that job is looking at that possibility.
Mays said that Wilson High School, also slated for the wrecking ball, has a smaller mural, and if enough money is raised, it can perhaps be saved as well.
Wilson is also being replaced by a middle school.
DeNiro said the Wilson mural has been the subject of discussions among school officials as well.
gwin@vindy.com