Glenwood Lutheran Church, 2545 Monroe St., recently unveiled a new mural, The Change Wall.
The Change Wall is inspired by the award-winning children’s book written by Amanda Gorman, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem, and particularly, Loren Long’s bright, colorful, “change inspiring” illustrations. The book depicts a young girl leading others on a “musical journey,” where they learn you can enact both small and big changes in their communities, the world and themselves.
It all began after John Eikost first read the book and was inspired by the story and the illustrations, specifically the mural that inspired The Change Wall.
“The mural that is depicted in the book, I just started to think to myself, ‘This would be great to see on an actual wall’,” John Eikost, local arts supporter and project coordinator said.
A perfect collaboration
Eikost then reached out to Long, the illustrator of Change Sings, which started the ball rolling toward this project. Chris Hanley, pastor of Glenwood Lutheran Church offered their wall for the mural, and all that was left to find was an artist to create the mural.
Eikost reached out to Dean Davis, a local Toledo muralist, airbrush artist and photo realism artist, and told him the idea. Davis, who was inspired by the story knew right away that he wanted to be a part of the project.
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“Once I got my hands on the book, and I read it and listened, I was captivated by what that message meant. Because I believe dearly in art, especially public art, and I know that that’s what public art does, is it infects people that see it, and once they are involved in it, it invokes their emotions, and that can lead to positive feelings,” Davis said. “And I think that that’s what that book was trying to really portray: through whatever spawns your emotions, you can find this positive energy in it, and then from there, allow that to be part of your community.”
Work began on the wall in the fall of 2023, and was completed earlier this spring. Altogether, it took about two weeks of painting to complete the wall, with a pause for the winter months in between.
“That’s one of those projects that just came together really well between John’s leadership on that, the church’s involvement, Barbara helping out with the fundraising. I think that it was just a home run right off the rail,” Davis said.
Creating a change
The mural image depicts Martin Luther King Jr., surrounded by “action words” that will serve as conversation starters for community members to enact change in Toledo. Toledoans will read words such as “hope,” “dream,” “unite,” “include” and “love,” as they take in the bright sights of the mural.
The Change Wall is located on the church’s outside wall, conveniently near the Toledo Art Museum, where thousands will drive by yearly, and can view the mural before visiting the museum.
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Mural organizers say there is more to come with the wall, as it is a continuous project to enact change in the Toledo area.
“Hopefully people will be inspired to kind of use it as a jumping off point for other projects or events or gatherings, or efforts that build on the theme of change, Eikost said. “We’re also still in the process of accepting funds for the project. We’ve essentially reached our initial goal, but we were also hoping to raise some seed money if in the future, organizations or individuals come to us and say, ‘Hey, I have an idea for a project that is inspired by the wall.’ Maybe we could be able to help them make that a reality.”
For more information or to donate to The Change Wall, visit glenwoodlutheranchurch.org.
