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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The beginning of the mural was drawn by artist Ray Simon before it was digitalized and blown up to start the 80 foot mural that was shown at Austintown Middle School.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.One of the characters represented on the "America's Story" wall came to Austintown Middle School when the wall was on display on Dec. 7.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The final panels of the "America's Story" mural were on display to give the guests an idea of what the finished product will look like.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The sketch gets digitalized before it's blown up into the size to fit the mural of "America's Story" that was at Austintown Middle School on Dec. 7.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Artist Ray Simon and one of the wall characters stood in front of the "America's Story" mural on Dec. 7 at Austintown Middle School.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The “America’s Story” 100-foot-long mural was presented at Austintown Middle School on Dec. 7 for students and the public to come look at.
More than 1,600 students had the chance to look at the mural and learn about it during their class time. Founders of the “The Spirit of America’s Story - The Wall,” Ron Smith and Patricia Sexton, talked to the students and told them about the mural.
“We talk about all the history, we had 15 minutes today to talk to the students. Not a lot of time to try to talk 240 years of history,” said Smith.
Later in the evening, the mural was set up in the choir room and was open for the public to look at and learn about. Smith and Sexton were both there available for any questions as they talked to the guests about the mural.
The 92-inch tall and 100-foot-long mural commemorates the lives of America’s service men and women. The hope for when people come to look at the wall is to feel an emotional connection to it.
“There’s the last three that we are working on and we are hoping to have it done by March,” said Smith.
The mural was designed by artist Raymond Simon. Simon was also at the evening showing of the mural to talk to the guests about his work. Smith draws out the design one panel at a time, paints the canvas and then it becomes digitally expanded to fit the size of the wall. The wall was started the beginning of 2015 and panels are still being added to it.
The wall travels around the country to give people a visualization of America’s history. Smith and Sexton hope the wall will continue and educate people on the history of America and the service people.