By Ben Conley
For The Dominion Post
Morgantown – The Italian immigrant who helped build Morgantown brick by brick.
The missionary activist behind The Shack who brought hope to West Virginia’s northern coalfields.
The Trinidad-born musician and instrument-maker who became the father of the modern steel drum.
The renowned New York jazz singer who found her voice in a Morgantown church choir.
The five-time Emmy Award winning comedic actor who rose from the University City to become a showbiz legend.
Thoney Pietro, Mary Behner, Ellie Mannette, Nancie Banks, Don Knotts.
Some started here. Some found themselves here. All made a lasting impact on Morgantown and the wider world.
And now all are memorialized on a nearly 900-square-foot Wall Street mural adorning the historic Morgan Theater building.
The artwork, created by West Virginia artist Blake Wheeler, was recently dedicated as part of the state’s America250 Mural Trail.
The mural, interspersed with the luminaries listed above, is a work in three sections, running between High and Chestnut streets in downtown Morgantown. It honors the city’s culture, history, industrial roots, entertainment and the people and moments that shaped the wider community.
“It really honors all of the historic figures that have put in the work to build what we know as Morgantown today. Not only, literally, the bricks and mortar of Thoney Pietro, all the way to Ellie Mannette, the cultural icon who was housed right here in Morgantown for something like 30 years,” Main Street Morgantown President Andrew White said. “It not only shows, to me, all the effort of all the people that have gone into making Morgantown a great place. In doing this project over the last year and a half or so, what was wonderful for me to watch was that all of us working together in this project are the people who are doing that now. We are the ones that received the baton, if you will, from these folks behind us.”
The approximately $22,000 undertaking is the result of a broad coalition including Main Street Morgantown, Claudio Corporation (the building’s owner), Arts Council of Greater Morgantown, the city of Morgantown, Monongalia County Commission, First Energy Foundation, Douglas H. Tanner Memorial Fund for the Arts, Your Community Foundation, West Virginia House of Delegates, National Endowment for the Arts and the West Virginia Department of Tourism.
White said the initial call for artists brought 59 submissions. Wheeler’s selection and the final images on display today were narrowed through the work of a selection and design committee as well as public input.
“This is a good example of a project that took a long time to come to fruition. There were roadblocks along the way, and the people at Main Street Morgantown persevered,” Delegate Evan Hansen said. “I also want to thank you for making this happen on behalf of the people who live in communities around downtown and in downtown; for making the arts the centerpiece of redeveloping downtown Morgantown … Because Morgantown as a city is not going to thrive unless downtown Morgantown is thriving.”
As part of the festivities, Morgantown Mayor Danielle Trumble presented a proclamation recognizing May as Morgantown Historic Preservation Month, noting, “It is important to celebrate the role of history in our lives and the contributions made by dedicated individuals in helping preserve the tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped us as a people.”
Through West Virginia’s America250 Mural Project, the state is working with the National Endowment for the Arts to make $5,000 grants available to the state’s county commissions in support of mural projects in each of the state’s 55 counties.
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