The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) Central Bus Service Facility wall along 2500 Woodhill Road is now home to a 700-foot mural that reflects the culture and history of the Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood, which includes Buckeye, Kinsman, and Woodland Hills.
Drive by the mural at 2500 Woodhill Road and you can see why it’s one of the largest in Ohio, along with murals in Ohio City and Toledo.
The project is part of the Elevate The East (ETE) public art plan—a community-led effort to guide public art investments in the eastside neighborhoods depicted in the mural. The plan is a component of a larger transformative strategy to benefit everyone in the community. The ETE steering committee made the large-scale mural the top priority for public art.
The project comes out of a partnership between LAND studio and Burten, Bell Carr Development Inc. (BBC), with financial support from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) Woodhill Choice Community Initiative grant.
Mural graphic designed by an eight-year-old Woodhill resident“LAND studio is honored to be invited to partner with BBC on the Elevate the East public art projects,” says LAND project manager Ahlon Gonzalez. A total of 50 public art projects are in the ETE plan, which will wrap up in 2027.
The large brick wall is directly west of the CMHA campus, which is undergoing complete renovation as part of the Woodhill Choice Initiative.
“The GCRTA is honored to contribute the Woodhill wall as the canvas for the mural illustrating the history of this neighborhood,” says Maribeth Feke, GCRTA director of programming and planning. “The 700-foot wall now serves as a beautiful illustration depicting the history and the people of this special place.”
The artists
Local artists Derek Brennan and Chad Fedorovich were selected to lead the project, and they tapped some of the 30-plus applicants who applied to work on the project.
Local artists who joined the project include Christa Childs (Christa Freehands), Dayz Whun, Alicia Vasquez, and Isaiah Williams (Star Being). Several other artists contributed as needed, bringing the total to nine pairs of talented hands.
Brennan’s mural career began in 2015 at Shaker Square. He has 40 murals under his belt, most in the Cleveland area. His recent large-scale projects have been at The Cleveland Museum of Art Community Arts Center, Public Auditorium, and MetroHealth.
Fedorovich owns Cleveland Mural Company and, in addition to his work as a muralist, he’s also a specialty painter and multi-media artist who is known for graphic design, custom murals, studio painting and collage art.
Community involvement
Brennan and Fedorovich made it a priority to get young residents involved in the project, so they hosted workshops.
“Early on, we did a team engagement event and a pop-up workshop where we gave the kids art supplies and stuff like that,” says Brennan, adding that the youngsters’ ideas are reflected in the mural—including one replica of an eight-year-old’s drawing.
A truckload of spray paint cans and supplies was hauled to the sit
“I just love bringing in some of this playful kind of quality and knowing the kids will go by it one day,” Brennan continues.
Then the artists decided on a theme. “It’s about the history of the area, the things that are no longer here, and trying to preserve [the history],” Brennan says of the work.
They also tried to reflect on the residents, places, and vibes of the neighborhood. “We were just really trying to make it for the people who live around here,” Brennan adds. “We’re really trying to have them be prideful of what they have here. and the culture, the people—we just wanted it to be about that.”
After two months of design time, the crew started the mural on Sept. 9 and the painting occurred most days, rain or shine. Each day, a truckload of spray paint cans, ladders, and supplies was hauled to the site.
The painting was done in multiple artistic styles with standard-size spray paint cans and large sprayers. One style used throughout the mural is graffiti-style lettering. Dayz Whun worked on most of the writing on the mural, with Brennan and Fedorovich encouraging him to use his own style.
“They gave me free reign,” says Dayz, who also worked on images. “It’s not just like, ‘this is my section.’ We’re weaving through each other.”
Dayz is well-known in the Cleveland art community for murals and other works. He started working on murals at age 12, with his first mural for a nail salon on Euclid that was owned by NBA legend Charles Oakley’s sister.
Dayz’s art today is now primarily found throughout the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. He works closely with the St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) on projects, such as a summer youth mural program, and he’s currently teaching a mural class at Oberlin College.
Hard work pays off
After eight months of planning and designing, painting the wall took the team about four weeks to complete over late last summer. Fedorovich was on-site every day and estimates he spent about 160 hours painting. Brennan’s hours mounted on the design time, and he was on site eight to 10 hours a day for three of the weeks (he took a week off when his baby was born).
The other artists were on site consistently as well. The result is a cohesive mural, but with sections of clear individuality based on the artist’s style and interpretation of the people and places that represent various parts of the neighborhood, past and present, such as Luna Park, Morris Black, Luke Easter Park, Shaker Square and Zelma George.
“A lot of people stopped,” says Brennan of their time on-site. “People [were] driving by and beeping.”
Mural artists Derek Brennan and Chad FedorovichSome even brought chairs to watch the painting in real time. Others took selfies with the artists. “[There was] a lot of great response, says Brennan. “People that live around here came and it was fun to have that interaction.”
Once the work came together, Fedorovich marveled at the cooperative effort. “I feel like we just pulled off the impossible,” he says. “I had my doubts knowing the brick is going to be hard, and just the sheer magnitude [of the project]. I feel proud of it.”
The artists say they hope many people will visit the mural to see the exceptional shading and colors of the detailed illustrations. “It speaks for itself,” says Fedorovich. “I want people to see it in real life! It’s hard to describe the size of it. It’s like two football fields long.”
Brennan and Fedorovich say that because of the wall preparation and steps taken to protect the artwork—including three protective coats—the mural is guaranteed to last at least 15 years and is graffiti proof because any non-sealed art can be washed off. There is also a maintenance plan in place and artists say the mural will be touched up, as-needed, in the future.
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