Artists eager to paint Ogden River Parkway

OGDEN (AP) — The idea of painting a panel alongside the Ogden River Parkway has been so popular the city has a waiting list.

Andreas Hub is working on a cartoon desert scene with a porcupine.

"I wanted to get involved in Ogden, and I am glad to be doing it," he said.

Hub decided he'd like to paint one of the 25 panels stretching along the walking path when he saw artist J Newell Nelson doing a mural of a trout in an underwater scene on the back of Pioneer Stadium. Hub asked how he could do it, too.

The mural project has been a year and a half in the making, said Vernon Hairston, Ogden Police Department gang unit project coordinator.

The original plan was to get young people with art talent involved, Hairston said. "Now, amateurs and professionals are all involved," he said.

All 25 of the panels have been claimed, and there are at least 10 more artists on a waiting list.

Hairston said the project should be finished this month. He hopes to find somewhere else in the city to do similar art projects given the positive response.

Groups such as Youth Impact and Progressive Youth have contributed — cleaning the surrounding grounds and painting a mural.

Sally Donoviel, an Ogden resident, said she decided to do a mural for the challenge of doing art on a large area.

"It's been harder than I ever thought to stretch it out," she said.

Donoviel wanted to contribute to help improve the city's image and make Ogden beautiful again. "It's been dumpy since the '80s," she said.

Darnel Haney worked on multiple murals, including a design of two Buffalo soldiers, a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., a train conductor and various sports figures. He also was excited to help beautify the area.

People passing through the area have commented on the artists' works in progress, Nelson said. That's one of the best parts of painting the mural, he said.

"It's the people who really appreciate what we are doing," he said.