Murals of York, PA

The Murals of York, PA are a series of murals painted on the sides of buildings in York, Pennsylvania between 1996 and 2002. Paid for with local donations, the murals provide the community with details about some lesser-known people, businesses, and customs of the city while adding artistic beauty. The York County History Center owns and shares rights to the use of the mural images.

In the 1990s a group of individuals from York traveled to Chemainus, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. David Carver, the president of the York Redevelopment Committee at that time, was among the group. Chemainus had a series of murals depicting the town's history that had been successful in drawing tourism to the area. The York group was interested in viewing these murals and deciding whether a project like this would work in York. A committee was later formed and the York Mural Project was begun. There are a total of 18 large murals and a series of mini-murals. Each mural depicts the history or York and is painted on the side of a building. The first mural was painted in 1996. It depicted the Harley-Davidson plant. The first mini-mural was painted in 1998. The last mural was completed in 2002. The murals are unique because they depict some little known people and events in York's history. Each mural tells a little story. The money to pay for the mural project came from donations from businesses and townspeople who were interested in the project.

The murals were painted during the day by artists who used scaffolding. The mini-murals were copies from a book by Lewis Miller; these mural images were projected on the wall via an overhead projector at night and sketched, for painting during the day.

A coat of Dryvit was applied as a base for each mural. Outdoor house paint was used and then covered with a clear coat. The clear coat protects the mural from weather and graffiti. The life of each mural is about twenty years. Some of them are already disintegrating.

Without Lewis Miller's drawings, there would be far fewer visual clues about what life was like in the 19th century in York. Lewis Miller did some funny drawing such as his portrayal of Mrs. Schreck. She had yellow toenails that were so long that Mr. Schreck had to cut them off with a saw, and she could not wear shoes. Artist Justine Landis and her daughter, Lori Straup turned Lewis Miller's drawings into mini murals. The mini murals are funny but also show serious scenes about the life back in the 19th century. Some mini murals bear Miller's writing in both German and English underneath the pictures. Most Yorkers spoke at least some German in the 18th and early 19th centuries. One mural shows him at work in his carpentry shop. He had hundreds of drawings in his journal and there were so many that a committee selected which murals to feature. Even though the mini murals are larger than life-sized drawings, they are still smaller than the other Murals of York. Some of them are featured in Cherry Lane park, and on the side of the town's Central Market house. There are 16 mini murals in all.

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