Ready to put the first brushstrokes on the mural, from left, are Susie Light, Warsaw Public Arts Commission chair; Terry Sweeney, downtown development director for Main Street Warsaw; Jim Swanson, YMCA CEO; Cary Groninger, of G & G Hauling & Excavating Inc.; Warsaw Common Councilwoman Diane Quance; muralist Chris Catalogna; Scott Wiley, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce member relations manager; and Hector Loyola, AkzoNobel Warsaw site manager.

Text and Photos
By Jackie Gorski
Times-Union

WARSAW — The first brushstrokes of a mural were put on a wall at the Downtown YMCA Friday, Sept. 27, which will play tribute to the old Madison Elementary School.

AkzoNobel partnered with Main Street Warsaw, Warsaw Public Arts Commission and Clearly Kosciusko to create a 2,100 square foot mural on the downtown YMCA building located at 576 W. Fort Wayne St., Warsaw.

Muralist Chris Catalogna said the mural will include an image of Madison Elementary with kids from the 1950s running out to modern day kids. The focal point will be a space shuttle going into the future, he said. His main goal is to make it extremely playful. The identity of the area is one of the most important aspects for the mural.

AkzoNobel is sponsoring the project as part of its global Let’s Color initiative, which has added color to people’s lives and transformed communities around the world for more than a decade.

With 3,059 community projects completed globally, AkzoNobel is eager to bring their passion for coloring their community to Warsaw, said AkzoNobel Warsaw Site Manager Hector Loyola. He said AkzoNobel looks forward to working together with community organizations to create something for Warsaw.

Scott Wiley, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce member relations manager, said the chamber loves it when a plan comes together and “what we’re best at is connecting the dots when it comes to getting our chamber members involved with the community.” He said planning for the mural started a year ago to bring a mural to downtown Warsaw. He said the chamber helped Main Street Warsaw, Warsaw Public Arts Commission and Clearly Kosciusko to bring the mural to downtown Warsaw.

Friday, the first brushstroke of the mural, as well as the spirit of community and collaboration that brought the mural to life were being celebrated, Wiley said.

Muralist Chris Catalogna gets out a paint brush Friday.

Terry Sweeney, downtown development director for Main Street Warsaw, said Main Street Warsaw is trying to create a culturallyfocused district that helps creative economies and the mural aligns with that objective. The mural also plays tribute to the history of the building, previously being the Madison Elementary School gymnasium.

Cary Groninger, of G & G Hauling & Excavating Inc., said the mural is a great throw back to the Madison Elementary School history that was once at the site. The YMCA was able to create a downtown space the community was able to enjoy by renovating the gymnasium.

YMCA CEO Jim Swanson said, “For us at the Y, it’s simple. We care about families. We care about families and the experiences they have together. And any chance we get to enhance that, to be apart of that, to help grow that in the community and help families who’ve all ready maybe gone through that stage with kids look back is an awesome opportunity.”

Swanson said the YMCA partnered with G & G in order to kind of revive this history of Madison Elementary School through a different venue, “but it’s a family setting.” Swanson noted there’s a neighborhood and park being built where Madison Elementary School was.

Warsaw Common Councilwoman Diane Quance said the model of Warsaw is to make the city a great place to work, live and play. She loves it when those things come together and she thinks the mural at the Downtown YMCA is an example of that.

She said she knows the kids that play at Madison Park will absolutely love to look at the mural.

The first brushstrokes were added to the wall. Catalogna instructed everyone that spoke of where the first brushstrokes should go.