I have had the pleasure to be involved in the Jiffy Lube mural project since 2016. I am proud to say that I was involved at its inception. Here's a brief history of my participation.
In 2016 I was working at a non-profit arts organization, The Department of Public Words. I served as the Grants Director and Community Mural Director. I sought out funding for our programs and projects and organized murals in the community.
On a warm spring day, I was on the Monon Trail, painting over some graffiti that someone had added to one of our murals. A woman who worked on the marketing team for Jiffy Lube of Indiana stopped to chat. She mentioned that the Jiffy Lube in Broad Ripple kept getting tagged. We talked about how when a wall gets beautified, it actually deters people from vandalizing it. When you add color, joy and love to an area, people passing by feel uplifted, cared about and generally happier.
So from there, me and my co-workers at DPWords (Holly and Dave Combs) met with Steve Sanner and Lonnie Hinkle (Jiffy Lube owners) and conceived of the Jiffy Lube mural project. We managed the call to artists, chose the designs and created the first of many murals for 5 different Jiffy Lube locations. We involved the public to help paint the murals - we hauled mural panels and painted with the crowd at a Luke Bryan concert at Ruoff Music Center, we painted at Eskenazi Health, with the mental health in-patient residents, we set up saw horses and mural panels in parking lots and invited everyone to help paint. It was fun, hard work but rewarding.
DPWords ended up closing it's doors a couple years later, but the Jiffy Lube Mural project grew and found a new partner with the fine folks at the Indy Arts Council. They have supported over 25 artists to paint unique murals (that have nothing to do with oil changes, just art for art's sake!) on different Jiffy Lube stores all over Indiana.
In 2019, the Jiffy Lube of Indiana mural project received the Americans for the Arts’ National Arts and Business Partnership Award. Jiffy Lube of Indiana is the first Indiana-based company to receive this honor since 2013! What a beautiful acknowledgment.
There is a juried process to be chosen to paint a Jiffy Lube building. In 2019, I was one of the artists picked to paint a store. I was assigned the Avon Jiffy Lube. Artists are encouraged to be creative and not held back with any preconceived theme requirements. I drove around Avon and was inspired by the beautiful rural landscape. It reminded me of my hometown - a small agricultural community in NW Ohio. I love the wide open vistas, colorful sunrises and sunsets, and big views of fields. Here's the Rural Rhythm mural I painted:
This year, I was asked to lead a team of Avon High School students in painting a mural on the other side of the building.
I went to the classroom, had them all contribute to the design and chose a theme of sunset.
From mock up to executed design:
The students were wonderful to work with and all worked so hard.
Thanks, Jiffy Lube, Indy Arts Council and Avon Education Foundation for your support and partnership!
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