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CANTON − Cleveland Avenue in the city’s downtown is now splashed with artwork chronicling the Canton area’s most famous and accomplished residents.
In a six-block stretch, digital artwork has been transferred to vinyl wraps adorning 13 utility boxes. Music, history, sports and industrial pioneers are represented.
Emblazoned on the traffic signal boxes are President William McKinley, Cornelius Aultman, Henry Timken, Canton Palace Theatre, Canton Museum of Art, Stark County Fair, Canton Civic Center, Bluecoats, McKinley National Memorial, Hotel Onesto, the McKinley-Massillon high school football rivalry, Jim Thorpe, Thurman Munson, Marion Motley, Eric Snow, CJ McCollum, Ronnie Harris, Renee Powell, Macy Gray, The O’Jays, Marilyn Manson, Trippie Redd and others.
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Art boxes include augmented reality
Not only has the artwork of Dirk Rozich given Cleveland Avenue a fresh personality, it also will be highly visible during the Canton Repository Grand Parade on Aug. 3 during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival.
Adding to the visual experience is an interactive phone app using QR codes that brings the art boxes to life, courtesy of Plain Township artist Tracy Brewer.
Brewer said it was a unique project and her first art piece downtown. Brewer’s other works include an art installation at the Akron-Canton Airport.
She refers to the digital component of the boxes as augmented reality and an animated experience.
Brewer said she partnered with Rozich on that aspect of the project.
“It was an amazing project,” Brewer said, adding that more of her augmented reality work will be unveiled in Stark County.
Telling Canton’s story through artwork
The concept for the art boxes was envisioned and coordinated by Donn Angus, the city’s planning director.
“The inspiration … was to enhance the appearance of the (Grand Parade route) on Cleveland Avenue,” he said. “And to promote economic vitality within the downtown central business district.”
Cassandra Pearson, a neighborhood planner in the city’s Planning and Zoning Department, said she also was excited to be part of the project.
“It took something that is often unseen and graffitied and turned it into something beautiful that showcases Canton’s rich history,” she said.
Project boundaries are from Sixth Street SW to 12th Street NW on Cleveland Avenue on the south side of Tuscarawas Street.
The city Planning Department funded the roughly $15,000 project. Angus said he plans to expand the art boxes next year into some city neighborhoods.
“Many communities have installed art on traffic control boxes, from Cleveland, Akron and Dover,” Angus said. “Although attractive, they’re generally in the form of simple, stylized art without much contextual meaning. I wanted to use this as a platform to help tell Canton’s story; one that is much more than being the birthplace of professional football.”
ALD Decal & Graphics of downtown Canton converted Rozich’s digital artistry onto a vinyl canvas before completing installation recently on the utility boxes.
“The designs that Dirk came up with are absolutely extraordinary,” Angus said. “I couldn’t be more pleased. And his collaboration (with) Tracy (Brewer) truly takes this installation to the next level.”
Rozich’s reaction to the project: ‘It’s really surreal.’
Rozich and Brewer were selected from a group of artists who had submitted their ideas and plans.
“It’s absolutely an honor, it’s absolutely humbling,” Rozich said. “It’s really surreal.”
Rozich’s art is already on display throughout downtown, including a mural honoring the city’s football history and a mural of NFL icon Joe Namath. An NFL fan-themed art collage also adorns a building housing a cooler behind Jerzee’s Cafe at Centennial Plaza. More of his artwork will be featured on the exterior of the restroom building near the plaza with hand-painted panels totaling 26 feet in length.
He also created a sprawling mural of LeBron James at the athlete’s museum in Akron. Notable artwork also includes commissioned portrait paintings of President George W. Bush and NFL great Peyton Manning.
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The 44-year-old North Canton-area resident said the new downtown artwork is especially gratifying.
“I’m used to painting large-scale murals, and I approached these as miniature murals,” he said of the traffic signal boxes, which are roughly 50 inches high and two feet wide.
Rozich said he uses the computer software Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop to aid the digital creations. Material is 3M vinyl wrap, he said. Vinyl should maintain its condition for at least seven years before fading, he said.
“It’s like a different part of my creativity,” said Rozich, who grew up in the Alliance area. “It’s like going down two different creative paths.”
Art boxes showcase celebrities and historical figures
All together, Rozich spent 20 to 25 hours researching and creating the artwork for each utility box.
Creating the art pieces involved referencing photos, composing images via computer and conducting historical research, Rozich said.
Topics included the former Dueber-Hampden Watch Co. Rozich also searched for uncommon photos if possible, including one of William McKinley when he was a Civil War soldier.
Not all of the people depicted on the boxes have direct ties to Canton or are from Stark County. For example, infamous mobster Al Capone, actress and model Marilyn Monroe and President John F. Kennedy had visited Hotel Onesto in downtown Canton decades ago, Rozich said.
“Hopefully, these boxes spark curiosity and people do further research,” he said.
Angus provided Rozich 40 possible themes with which to dress the utility boxes.
“We tried to do a blanket over a lot of different things,” he said. “There’s a lot to be proud of (in the city). It’s being so well-received.”
Reach Ed at ebalint@gannett.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @ebalintREP and Instagram at ed_balint.
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