The high school and college students working on the Art Bomb Brigade’s first project — a mural on the back of a building on South Main Street in Akron — wanted to gain experience, work on a different scale than they’re used to, and learn what it’s like to work with a team.

But they also wanted to bring art to a neighborhood that has fallen on hard times. Essence Bradley was one of the students that took a break from painting on June 21 to talk to Crain’s. The University of Akron senior spoke of the brightly colored mural amid the torn-down buildings surrounding the Downtown Laundromat. “It kind of makes up for all that,” she said. The Art Bomb Brigade is a new initiative led by director and creator Elisa Gargarella and funded by a $45,000 Knight Arts Challenge grant. Gargarella, who also is an associate professor of art education at the University of Akron, said the grant required a $45,000 match, which she is close to meeting. Her goal is for the program to span two years and to complete at least three or four murals in that time. Basically, Gargarella said she wants to see the group “mural bomb” rundown parts of the city. It’s clear that goal has resonated with the students who were working on the Art Bomb Brigade’s first project. Brina Jeffries, a Firestone High School graduate, said she thinks it’s important to “uplift” low-income neighborhoods with this kind of public artwork. Wilma Levengood, a student at the University of Akron, is doing her thesis on public art in the public sector, so she wanted to have that experience herself. The arts can bring economic opportunity and business, she said, sparking other areas where the arts can thrive. When the buildings near the Downtown Laundromat started to get torn down, Scott Grieshammer, president and owner of Scott Charles Laundromats Inc., decided to look into getting a mural painted on it, like his mother had always encouraged. The nearby buildings have been torn down for an interchange project in that area. Grieshammer had some say in what would go on the nearly 200 feet on the back of his building, picking out the artist and sending suggestions for what he’d like to see. He thinks the mural will serve as a “landmark” and, while he said he didn’t do it to build business, he does think the mural will bring people in. Gargarella wants the art to be a catalyst for economic and community activity, as well as a way to bridge the downtown area with the neighborhoods. Another goal is to give a springboard to up-and-coming artists. This project gives the young artists a way to grow their network while they gain experience. Gargarella partnered with the Arts Lift program, another initiative she spearheads in the area for high school students. Eleven high school students and 12 University of Akron students are working on this first project with the help of a professional artist, Matt Miller. As someone who grew up in Akron, Miller said he wanted to use bright colors to light up the neighborhood and to create a mural that incorporates “Akron’s industrial history” with the surrounding wildlife. “It’s already been a really rewarding experience, and it’s nice to kind of bring some life into the area,” he said.