RAY BROWN MURAL
In Fall 2022, Professor Strittmatter co-authored a successful ONU internal arts grant with ONU art professor Melissa Eddings Mancuso to fund a Ray Brown mural that will be installed on the concessions building at the Alger ballpark.
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Throughout 2023, student artist Aubrey Davis painted the two mural panels that feature multiple images of Brown, various symbols of Ohio, and Hardin County locations.
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Below, the Columbus Grove-born artist describes the components of her creation.
Background Colors
"I did deliberately choose these colors because they're primary colors. Chicorie is a nice blue-ish kind of purple color. And then you got your yellows and reds of the cardinal and the Columbine. The primary colors are vibrant against the deep dark green. And the dark green is nice because of how often the blues are used."
- Aubrey Davis
Significance of the Flowers
"The flowers, those are all native Ohio wildflowers. So you have Columbine, Chicory, Black-Eyed Susan, and Goldenrod. And then, on the right-hand side, there's a buttercup, too. And those are all native wildflowers to Ohio. I chose those specifically. I did kind of a floral thing, specifically because at least in my time and experience, knowing about your environment, seeing the seasons change, and being fully absorbed in what's happening around you."
- Aubrey Davis
Mural Images
"I did a plain, simple portrait of Ray Brown. So, you know, you'd see his face in a very, very literal sense."
"The building is the old school in Alger, Ohio, where Ray Brown would have attended school."
"The second photo is of the team, the Homestead Grays, which he was a part of and really started to make a career for himself in baseball."
"The one [image] in the center is a mock kind of a baseball card that I created."
- Aubrey Davis
