Canfield students' ‘Don’t text' message on plow

By JUSTIN WIER

jwier@vindy.com

CANFIELD

When Mahoning County drivers are battling snowstorms next winter, the plow on one particular Ohio Department of Transportation truck may pop out at them.

A group of Canfield art students spent the last two weeks decorating a plow with a painting inspired by renowned pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.

The plow has a distressed woman on the phone, modeled after Lichtenstein’s 1964 painting “Oh, Jeff,” surrounded by comic-book sound effects reading “Crash!” “Boom!” and “Pow!” When complete, a word bubble coming from the woman’s mouth will read, “Jimmy, please come home safe.”

Canfield senior Lexi Denney said the plow aims to dissuade people from texting and driving.

A bar across the top of the plow will bear the state’s “Stay alive. Don’t text and drive” slogan.

The school has participated in ODOT’s Paint a Plow contest for the past three years. Teacher Kevin Hoopes said it serves as a nice reprieve after students complete their portfolios.

“This is fun,” Hoopes said. “It’s got some public service to it, and it allows them to get outside and relax in the sun a little bit as well.”

Denney said she helped spearhead the project along with Gabby Scianna and Nick Palermo. All three of them plan on pursuing art in college. Denney said she wants to go into set design.

“That was kind of why I decided to become so passionate about this kind of project, because I knew it was very similar to what I’m going to be doing when I get to college,” she said.

The pop-art style was Scianna’s idea. Denney said she drew the skeleton. The entire group has been painting the plow in a patch of lawn near the football stadium.

“We’ve had such a pleasure coming out here and painting every day,” she said. “It’s been a good break from the rest of the school day.”

Denney said the size and shape of the plow was intimidating at first.

“We were kind of scared [at first] because we didn’t know how to put our concept onto this,” she said. “But once we got it on there and started painting, it all fell into place.”

The plow will be judged alongside the plows of other participants in ODOT District 4 at the District Roadeo, a driving and loading skills competition for ODOT drivers, at Kent State University in August.

After that, it will be put to use plowing snow in Mahoning County.