Hertel Avenue has scored another mural, thanks to the combined artistic approach of illustrator Mario Zucca and Zoom Copy. In case you’re wondering, this is not your standard mural application. Instead of having the work painted on the side of the building, the idea was to have it printed and applied. “A while back, I talked to Ikram Massabini (MVP Network Consulting) about applying a mural on the side of his building,” said Zoom Copy owner Rory Allen. “The wall begged for something, and Ikram agreed that a mural would be appropriate for the blank wall.”
Interestingly, Rory went online and conducted a search for Buffalo related artwork, and found a hand drawn piece by artist Mario Zucca, who was living and working in Philadelphia. The work of art was a playful Buffalo map that featured numerous images of iconic destinations that Buffalonians have come to appreciate as of late. “I brought the idea for the mural to Ikram, and he loved it. Then I showed it to Councilman Joel Feroleto, and he loved it. My company is able to take images like this and blow them up (vector format). Then we print panels and apply them directly to the walls. The 3M material looks exactly like paint, and it lasts longer. It’s also probably half the cost of a painted mural, and we can get them up pretty quickly and relatively effortlessly. Some people might say that it’s not art, but we’re taking original art and giving it a new life.”
Rory is very proud to be a part of this project. He’s also happy that he got a chance to take Mario’s artwork and show it off for Buffalo, in a larger than life approach. “This is a great lesson for artists,” Rory said. “Here’s a guy who is able to make a living by making these types of maps for cities that have a lot of hometown pride. Mario told me that he chose Buffalo because we have more pride than a lot of other cities. A few of his Buffalo friends helped him to choose the places around town that should be included on the map. Before the internet, this never would have happened. Now, he is able to sell the maps all over the world, and I was able to track him down for this project.”
Councilman Joel Feroleto is loving the idea of having murals populate North Buffalo. He feels that the murals bring more visitors into the neighborhood. And more visitors equates to more business. So far, so good. There is a new energy in North Buffalo these days. The murals go a long way to showing civic and cultural pride. Joel calls the North Buffalo mural effort “Hertel Walls”.
