Leadership Auburn Class of 2022 project pays homage to Auburn by painting the town on the walls of the community center at Recreation Park

In homage to all things Auburn, Leadership Auburn unveiled a mural on the wall of the community center at Recreation Park on Wednesday evening.

Julann Brown, a member of the Leadership Auburn Class of 2022, said the classes embark on a collective mission each year to choose, raise funds for and complete a community project.

“Over the 10 months that we met regularly, navigating the post-pandemic world filled with uncertainty and division, amid all of that one truth we as a group could agree on was that Auburn is an amazing place to work, live and play,” Brown said. “So our class unanimously decided that an Auburn-centric mural would be an excellent project.”

After putting out a call to artists, Leadership Auburn selected Ryan Rhodes, owner of Artificer Studio on Maple Street, as he “best captured Auburn’s natural beauty and rich history in his vision,” Brown said.

The class intended for the mural to be unveiled along the Highway 49 corridor, an area Brown said is “calling out for beautification,” by the end of 2023. However, after the selected building changed hands and the owner rejected Leadership Auburn’s proposal, the class continued searching for a new location and “refused to let the project die.”

“Then we found a new partner: Auburn Recreation District,” Brown said. “They welcomed our mural with open arms. This location became Ryan’s new canvas. As Ryan began to work his artistic magic, it quickly became apparent that this mural was always meant to exist here – a place where thousands of park visitors could appreciate and cherish this artistic celebration of Auburn.”

In the mural, titled “A Place for Everyone,” Rhodes included various elements Auburn is notably known for, including the Clock Tower for Downtown, the Historic Courthouse for Old Town, a horse and rider for the Tevis Cup and a runner for Western States. The mural also captures Auburn’s recreational side as well as its nature and scenic views, including the Foresthill and No Hands bridges.

“It was just kind of something that showcased different landmarks of Auburn and activities in Auburn and how there’s something for anybody to do basically,” Rhodes told the Auburn Journal.

Rhodes said he used spray paint for the mural, which took him two months to complete, and utilized a doodle grid, which allowed him to place marks all over the wall, photograph it and then overlay the design over the the image on his computer to know where each element went on the wall.

“I could tell while working on it that everybody in Auburn has a lot of pride for their city and everybody was amazingly friendly and really positive,” Rhodes said. “You could tell it was something that was really important to people.”

Members of the community gathered in the grass area near the mural to celebrate its completion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, dinner, champagne, photos and a Q&A with the artist. Rhodes also signed the mural during the festivities.

“It’s such a testament to Auburn and the Endurance Capital of the World,” Councilwoman Alice Dowdin Calvillo said. “As you know, we have declared ourselves as the Endurance Capital of the World. … This is such a neat devotion to that.”

Manouch Shirvanioun, marketing and customer service manager for ARD, added, “I know you guys, the class, wanted this project to go somewhere on the Highway 49 corridor but it didn’t happen but it found the best place in town. This project has a great home and it’s right here at Recreation Park. Nature, history, culture, recreation as it is presented in this mural will be enjoyed by thousands of people who visit this park every year.”

According to Brown, a plaque listing the project’s sponsors will be mounted on the mural.