Community members bring colorful creation to downtown Dover
DOVER, Del. – To beautify downtown Dover, community members took their creativity to the streets, in a colorful way.
“Really, we just need to paint inside the lines,” said painter Pepper Brittingham. “I helped tape today, and so did a lot of other people.”
With a steady hand and an eye for detail, community members, like Brittingham, came to the downtown intersections of South State Street and West Loockerman Street, to bring some vibrancy to the area’s crosswalks.
“We had to snap a grid and then some people helped draw on the shapes, and then everyone helped tape it out,” Brittingham said. “You have to cut it with a pocketknife or scissors, and then put it in the places where you’re supposed to fill in, then everyone started to help.”
The idea of the art project is to bring locals together in a fun way. Brittingham’s mom, Randi Meredith said even the smallest brush stroke can make a big impact.
“I think it shows a love for your community,” Meredith said. “There’s people who walk here every day, and they show up, even if they only paint one little section.”
“It’s their part that they made in this community and it’s just so nice when you get all these people together who want to paint, and maybe they don’t have anything in common, but they come together to paint this piece of art,” Meredith added.
The inspiration for the design comes from artist Edward Loper Jr. After hearing of his recent passing on Friday, Jordan Resh, with Downtown Dover, thought bringing his art to life would be the perfect way to honor his legacy.
“The crosswalk design at this intersection came from artwork from the Biggs Museum’s permanent collection,” Resh said. “It was artwork from Edward Loper Jr; we did receive the news, Friday, that Edward Loper Jr. passed away, so this design is now able to honor him and represent his work to our community, and his legacy.”
And unlike sidewalk chalk, this paint project is here to stay.
“Depending on road surface condition, and the amount of traffic that drives over it, it’s between one and five years,” Meredith said.
