MANSFIELD — The Jericho Wall of Remembrance and Recovery is looking for names.
The new art park for families who are casualties of drug addiction, which will be dedicated Aug. 31, would like to include as many names as possible, according to Rev. Paul Lintern.
The remembrance part of the wall along Dickson Avenue is for family and friends to have the name of a loved one who died of addiction, overdose or a related circumstance placed on the wall. The first group will be revealed at the 11 a.m. dedication.
The wall will be dedicated on National Overdose Awareness Day, as a way to bring comfort to grieving families and encouragement to those seeking recovery, Lintern said.
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Additional names will be placed there during occasional ceremonies.
“The big need right now is for people who want to have a name placed on the wall,” Lintern said.
The new facility is located between West Third and Fourth streets.
“We want each name to have its time and place as part of reminding us that these are not numbers or statistics, but people who had lives and family apart from addiction,” he said.
“In fact, we are asking families to include a description of that person as they were — apart from addiction — and to include a photo of that person.
“The emphasis of the wall is to remind people that addiction is not an identity, even if it is a reality. This wall will emphasize who a person is apart from their addiction, created in the image of God,” Lintern said.
The information will be displayed at the dedication and then will available on the wall’s website at http://www.jerichowall.info.
Names and related information can be emailed to Lintern at linternpau@AOL.com.
“Those named don’t have to be from Richland County, just that the one submitting has a reason for wanting it on the wall,” Lintern said.
How was the park created?
The memorial art park, which includes a newly repaved parking lot, was largely created through the work of downtown churches and the entire Richland County Mental Health Board.
The wall features the work of four artists commissioned as a public art initiative through the RCDG Mansfield Arts and Culture Sector, funded through the Mansfield Rising Plan.
Luke Beekman of Mankind Murals Inc., is coordinating the artwork through the Mansfield Public Arts Commission.
“Public art catches people’s attention, and it can thoughtfully provoke and inspire hope. This wall and the transformation of such an urban space in downtown is a revitalizing experience,” Beekman said.
“Art can help to elevate progress and explore a place’s potential. It can bring to light real issues such as this, where the real human suffering of addiction can be juxtaposed by the beauty of recovery.
“You don’t have to be an artist to appreciate public art. And you don’t have to be addicted to care about recovery. This will be a place where art can signify uplift and inspire that journey of remembrance and recovery,” Beekman said.
The artists, commissioned to paint about 75 percent of the wall, are Drew Anderson, Mo Taylor, Ray Baughman, Shannon Volz.
Topping the eight-foot retaining wall is a banner covering both sides of a chain-link fence. It features a colorful sky background on one side. It has the stained glass windows of First Christian Church on the other, donated by the Seaman Family Foundation of Wooster.
Joe Trolian, executive director of the Richland County Mental Health & Recovery Services Board, is overseeing the board’s building of a 12 x 20 foot pavilion.
That pavilion will provide information about organizations that serve issues of addiction and mental illness, which often go hand-in-hand.
“The Jericho Wall will provide both a symbolic representation of the tragic loss to families and community from the opiate epidemic as well as a symbol of our resilience that community has developed over the last dozen years” he said.
Two members of Mansfield City Council involved
Two Mansfield City Council members serve on the wall’s planning committee.
Third Ward Councilman Rev. El Akuchie said the wall is a symbol of love, compassion, hope, unity, peace and redemptive second chances.
“When God finds a people willing and obedient to His vision, He works through them to turn shame into honor, ashes into beauty, despair into praise and mourning into joy,” Akuchie said.
Fifth Ward Councilman Aurelio Diaz, in whose ward the wall was created, said the wall represents more than just art.
“It is paying tribute to the legacy of those in our community whom we have lost, but it is also a testament to our community’s resilience and coming together,” he said.
“Art is very powerful, and when it is incorporated with humanity, it is even more beautiful,” Diaz said.
First Christian Church, owners of the parking lot since the 1960s, deeded the land to Project One to be overseers of the park.
Amanda Nichols, director of that recovery service organization, which also operates the ARC Empowerment Center, said the area will help the community of addiction recovery in unique ways.
“A portrait is worth a thousand words. Embracing those who have gone on and encouraging those that are still here as our community comes together will be a main purpose. The art shows a heartfelt dedication to those that are loved but are gone and those that are still fighting,” Nichols said.
A stage in the corner provides a way for small groups to gather for ceremonies, meetings, music events and prayer services, becoming another venue for special events related to recovery.
The remaining portion of the wall will be painted at community events involving families and friends moving forward.
An oversight committee of persons involved in recovery is planned to sponsor events, add name-placing ceremonies, keep security and cleanliness, and maintain funding avenues.
More information is available through www.jerichowall.info.
