Lewiston, N.Y. (WBEN) "It's whimsical, it's playful, it's fun. Its also humorous, unusual and filled with love and happiness," said artist Rob Lynch. He's talking about the parking lot mural at Artpark in Lewiston.
"We wanted the community to walk through the lot and have a smile." Lynch and Matt SaGurney are the lead artists on the project. They call themselves The Solo Roths. " Artpark put out a public call, saying they had a 400' by 400' parking lot and they wanted something artistic to happen there."
Lynch and SaGurney got the green light and began working on it this Summer. "It was a very labor intensive process. It took about two months," said Lynch. "We had many volunteers. We're both Art teachers. We had former students helping out, staff from Artpark and volunteers from the Parkinson community group. It was a
community project."
The artists went into it knowing that it is going to take a lot of wear and tear from
tires going over it and from snow and ice as well as an occasional snowplow. "We knew it would be temporary but that's the history of Artpark. Interesting things happen there that are meant to be temporary," said Lynch.
It will be there next year, but it will be weathered. He encourages everyone to see it now.
Previously, Lynch and SaGurney have created a mural at Oshiei Children's Hospital, and at Crowley Webb & Associates ad agency in Buffalo.
They also have a mural at John's Tex Mex in Rochester.
They got their start working at the Music is Art Festival with Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls. They did four murals for that festival.
This latest project at Artpark is already bringing the pair a lot of attention.
"We were thrilled to get the green light to do this. We've already received a lot of positive feedback. It's been great to be a part of this," said Lynch.