Downtown Military Mural Project To Kick Off With Fundraising Campaign Press Conference Set For June 20

Main Street Vineland is seeking public financial support for a military mural project, to be part of a larger initiative to beautify the walls of select downtown buildings with murals.

The mural will be located on the wall facing the mini-park on the southwest corner of Landis Avenue and the Boulevard, in Vineland. It will honor the active members of all five branches of the military, as well as veterans and POWs. The muralist will be celebrated artist George Perez—an artist and illustrator for over 40 years—whose works, done in a variety of mediums and ranging from caricatures, to portraits, landscapes, and murals, have been exhibited in venues throughout the Delaware Valley.

A number of grantees have already been lined up for the project, including the Cumberland County Cultural & Heritage Commission/Department of State, THRIVE South Jersey, BB&T, and Ace Hardware.

Additional money is needed, however, to finish the project and, for that purpose, a fundraising campaign has created on Main Street Vineland’s website—www.TheAve.biz—where different giving levels are outlined. All donations are greatly appreciated and no donation is too small! This is all about involving all of our community and honoring our members and families of our military personnel. 

To roll out this project, a press conference open to the public, will take place on Thursday, June 20, at 10 a.m., at the southwest mini-park, in front of where the mural will be painted and where repair work to the wall has already been taking place. In case of rain, the conference will take place in Landis MarketPlace, 631 E. Landis Ave. A brief description of the project will be given at that time, the muralist will be introduced, and a mock-up of the mural artwork will be shown. The climax of the project is anticipated to be a formal dedication of the finished mural on Veterans Day, November 11, following the regular holiday ceremony at Landis Park.

“This is, indeed, a great honor to pay tribute to our brave men and women of the military in a way that will be a highly-visible backdrop for one of the iconic parts of our downtown—The Ave. Each one of the mini-parks at that intersection has a military theme, so this is extremely appropriate,” said Main Street Vineland Executive Director Russell Swanson. “I am urging as many people as possible to come out to the press conference and see how they can do their part to pay tribute to our military and, at the same time, to add to the beautification and historical value of The Ave.

Swanson sees this project as part of a bigger mural project for The Ave.

“Murals have been used to beautify buildings in cities and towns across the country. These ‘urban canvasses’ add to the richness and flavor of a city’s heritage and allow talented artists to display their talent and creativity while adding to the historical value of buildings,” he said. “We have some buildings in mind of our Urban Canvases on The Ave mural project. A mural on the side of the building at 616 E. Landis Avenue was a community project through Appel Farm Arts & Music Center in 2011. We can pick up where we left off.”

Swanson envisions future murals to be a combination of work by muralists and, like the 2011 mural, community projects.

For more information on this and all Main Street Vineland events and projects, call the Main Street Vineland office at 856-794-8653, visit the organization’s website at www.TheAve.biz, or visit the organization’s Facebook page.