Looking for public art in Columbus? Here are 7 must-see murals on the Hilltop

Columbus has no shortage of eye-popping murals, including the Hilltop neighborhood. 

Using the parlance of urban planners, murals have the ability to "activate" spaces, making them more attractive and appealing for pedestrians and commuters alike. 

On the Hilltop on the West Side of town, there are a number that recall the neighborhood's history, the environment and religion.

Most have been commissioned by the nonprofit Summer Jam West, which runs an annual music and arts festival of the same name in Westgate Park. The group recently changed its name to the Hilltop Arts Collective, but the festival will still be called Summer Jam West.

'Pursuing Good Together'

This mural is familiar to anyone who has been to Third Way Café on Broad Street. 

Designed last year by Lucie Shearer, Marcus Billingsley and Thom Glick, "Pursuing Good Together" depicts three people of different colors talking to one another while sharing a meal.

"What we love about this is its simplicity – whether it’s three friends, or three people who don’t agree on anything, it’s about people coming together to engage with one another on a personal level, something that was sorely missing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also often missing when it comes to the big, complicated issues of our day," reads a description of the mural on Summer Jam West's website.

'Color Your World Green'

Designed in 2020 by Michael Boudreault and Chris McDaniels, "Color Your World Green," at 3045 Sullivant Ave., shows a purple-skinned woman with a curtain of green hair holding a butterfly in her left hand. In the opposite hand, the woman lifts her hair and reveals a landscape of smokestacks, all emitting carbon-based emissions.

'Peace Train'

Peace signs serve as the wheels of a train in "Peace Train," designed by graffiti artist Justin Withrow in 2019. The mural at 2322 Sullivant Ave. also features block letters that spell out words like "Peace," "Create," "Love" and "Live."

'Our Lady of Guadalupe'

This mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe at 2317 W. Broad St. can be found in a parking lot that's home to the El Huarache Veloz food truck. 

Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, refers to when Mary — mother of Jesus and a very important saint in the Roman Catholic religious tradition — appeared to a man named Juan Diego in Mexico in 1531, according to the National Museum of Mexican Art. She holds a special place in the culture and religious life of many Mexicans and Mexican Americans, and her image is a national symbol of Mexico.

'The Heroes of Camp Chase'

Created by Curtis Goldstein in 2009, "The Heroes of Camp Chase" at Westgate Park, 455 S. Westgate Ave., commemorates the area's Civil War history by depicting Camp Chase and its barracks, the smoke of battle and other aspects of the North and South.

The mural — in hues of blue, gold, sepia, gray and rose — depicts the surgery of a Union soldier, the Hilltop camp that held Confederate prisoners of war and the arch at the Confederate cemetery nearby.

On the left in blue is a large portrait of the Camp Chase commander, Col. George W. Neff. On the right in gold is a portrait of Confederate prisoner and poet William S. Hawkins. The mural also depicts the Civil War-era Union Station that stood Downtown where the convention center is now.

Goldstein said when painting the mural, Hilltop residents expressed concern that it would glorify the Confederacy.

To allay those concerns, Goldstein put a Union soldier at the top of the mural and added two plaques — one depicting Abraham Lincoln and the other showing the abolitionist and former Ohio Governor Salmon P. Chase. And while the mural depicts Confederate soldiers engaged in battle, their field colors are obscured by smoke.

"It was important to me to make it clear that the Civil War, like the French Revolution, was a decisive historic moment where humanity took a crucial stand toward the emancipation of the individual, and that we are all better off because of it," Goldstein said.

'The Fantastic Food Garden'

Also at Westgate Park is "The Fantastic Food Garden," created by Danielle Poling in 2016. Summer Jam West that year wanted to encourage healthy eating, community gardening and urban homesteading. 

Butterflies, crops and flowers can be seen throughout "The Fantastic Food Garden," which is really two murals in one. The mural encompasses and surrounds "Children's Mural," also commissioned by Summer Jam West and painted by Aaron Grover in 2013. It shows kids at play on a summer's day.

'Moovin' and Groovin''

Roger J. Williams placed four Pokemon characters within 2017's "Movin' and Groovin,'" found along Camp Chase Trail, which runs from Madison County into Columbus.

“I’m doing it for the same reason that Keith Haring put all the graffiti around Brooklyn and New York," Williams told Summer Jam West organizers when asked why he wanted to paint the Hilltop mural, which shows figures and musical notes in motion.

"He went outside the New York art system and politics to make his art public. I kind of want the notoriety. I guess I’m hoping for some trickle-down or trickle-up effect. I want to leave a legacy. Let’s make the Hilltop great again!”

Williams' mural can be accessed via North Sylvan Avenue.

This story is part of the Dispatch's Mobile Newsroom initiative. Visit our reporters at the Hilltop branch library and read their work at dispatch.com/mobilenewsroom, where you also can sign up for The Mobile Newsroom newsletter.

Mark Ferenchik contributed to this report.

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.

mtrombly@dispatch.com

@MonroeTrombly