Bedford mural is tribute to city's Underground Railroad history

Mural is Graffiti HeART's latest offering in mission to meld art and community

By Dairian Heard

SPECIAL TO THE REAL DEAL PRESS

Road to Freedom, unveiled in Bedford, Ohio this month celebrates the Underground Railroad

Community art seems to be an emerging phenomenon in black communities, albeit one too often associated with memorializing victims of violence. The spontaneous memorial that arose at the gazebo where 12 year old Tamir Rice was gunned down by a Cleveland police officer is one local example. More recently, a well-publicized mural was created in Minneapolis, Minnesota after George Floyd was lynched by police in broad daylight on a city street.

These community expressions are not all sad markers of racial assaults. They can also be testimonials of more glorious moments of black history.

That was the inspiration behind Greater Cleveland's latest mural, "Road to Freedom", a 40-foot long, ten foot high ode to the valorous history of the Underground Railroad. The mural was unveiled in the city of Bedford on Saturday, Sept. 12, a project led by Graffiti HeART, with support from the Bedford Downtown Alliance and Crossroads Universal, Inc.

Stamy Paul

Graffiti HeArt is a charitable grassroots organization founded in 2013 by Stamy Paul. A tax-exempt group funded by donations and run by an all-volunteer eight member board, Paul's original intent was to provide a platform for artists in the area to be commissioned for their work. Over time, this mission evolved into inspiring health and art in the Greater Cleveland area. This wider focus has led Graffiti HeART to expand to public and private mural art — in Paul's words, to "promote artists and bring the stage to them."

The journey to the "Road to Freedom" mural began with the Black Lives Matter street mural on East 93rd St. near Union Ave. on Cleveland's southeast side. Paul had already been inspired by the BLM mural in Washington DC on what is now Black Lives Matter Plaza. With the support of Cleveland Ward 6 councilman Blaine Griffin, plans for the street mural quickly got underway. The day the mural was created was the day Paul met the three young black artists — Stina Aleah, Davon Brantley, and Christa Freehands — who would collectively be responsible for the Bedford mural project.

"I knew I wanted all Black artists on this mural," Paul told The Real Deal Press during an interview. Paul did have some hesitation as the project was being finalized. The three artists were strangers to one another despite having worked together on a prior project. Nonetheless, all signed on after a phone conversation.

Paul's apprehensions disappeared as she observed the team members' work ethic and collaborative energy. They "totally exceeded my expectations and, I think, their own. I fell in love with them and their spirits. They all were so dedicated to the project. They were up bright and early without hesitation," she said of the artists during the production phase.

The September 12 unveiling began with representatives from the Bedford Downtown Alliance acknowledging all participants. Mayor Stan Koci, Matt Stewart of Crossroads Universal and Stamy Paul of Graffiti HeART addressed a crowd of perhaps forty onlookers and thanked the artists for their work in bringing Julius Caesar Tibbs to life.

Born a slave in Virginia, Tibbs ran away via the Underground Railroad and came to Bedford, where he was found in a large hollow tree by a farm owner who provided him with food and shelter.

This episode is now consecrated on the side of a building that sits along the same local railroad tracks that Abraham Lincoln once traveled in 1861 en route to his inauguration. Bedford was known at the time for strong anti-slavery sentiment, which may be why Lincoln stopped for brief remarks and why the municipality became a stop on the Underground Railroad.

The Artists

Road to Freedom artists, from left, Stina Aleah, Davon Brantley and Christa Freehands

After the ribbon-cutting, the artists took turns speaking with the crowd and sharing their stories. Stina Aleah began by giving an overview of the mural itself, noting the depictions of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Tibbs. She said the path to her career began in 2015 with a high school art class she enrolled in after suffering a sports injury.

Stina quickly took a liking to art. "It kept calling me," she said. Starting out as an oil painter, she now works in a variety of media.

Christa Freehands told the crowd she was always interested in art. Both of her parents were artists and she recalled doing arts and crafts as a child. She said it was something she "always found comforting."

Like Christa, Davon Brantley has been an artist since childhood. He recalled being reprimanded for sketching during class and mentioned a time he was almost expelled for selling his artwork in the hallway. He joked about "hustling" off his work. When he said, "I wanted to do art, so I was going to teach myself by any means," his passion was evident.

Graffiti HeART

Graffiti HeART, the lead sponsor of the Bedford mural, celebrates artists of all ages and backgrounds. Through scholarships funded by the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) and donations, Graffiti HeART has extended support to young artists, including a nine year old photographer. It selects students through a blind portfolio process it conducts with CIA where the only personal information disclosed is the applicant's hometown. Graffiti HeArts wants both local and out-of-state applicants in its search for young, diverse artists from Cleveland and beyond.

The "Road to Freedom" mural can be found at 90 Willis Road, Bedford [44146]. Visit here for more information on Graffiti HeART.

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