Sarah Garber, owner of The Clay Cup and Westfall Coffee began the mural project at the start of summer with a goal of finishing by the end of the season. The mural is located on the back of a building on 11th Ave. The work was done outdoors over the course of several months, and Garber painted during available weather conditions.
The mural was officially revealed during a public event held Tuesday, Oct. 7. The piece features imagery inspired by Altoona. Following the reveal, Garber held a question and answer session with attendees. She discussed her design process, the materials used and the challenges of working on an outdoor wall.
“I think I put a lot of thought behind it being something that people could digest quickly as they’re driving by,” Garber said. “So it’s big and bold, and you get the idea, even if you’re just driving by quickly, but then there are more details that you see the closer you get to. So it’s for people that are driving by, it’s for people that are walking by that have time to kind of get up close to it. So I wanted it to have really good readability, and that was something that was really important to me.”
Since the unveiling, photos of the mural have been shared on Garber’s social media page. Along with members of the community, since the mural has been finished many people have shown their appreciation and support to Garber.
The piece is available for anyone to see. Garber was chosen to create this piece by ABCD Corp due to her creative and artistic aspects.
Garber funded the project through many donations from sources that remain anonymous.
“There had been money given to me from a few different individuals, and there was money from the Community Foundation and ABCD Corp to do a public art installation, and they had contacted me to do it,” Garber said.
“I love the Clay Cup because of the creative aspect of making your own pottery of some sort and painting it in a coffee shop setting,” junior Caleb Kennedy said.
Since the project has been finished, Garber has started a new chapter in her artistic career by going around to different pizza shops within the town and drawing the pizza they give her. This is a weekly activity she is going to continue to do. The first place she began with was JJ Hadley in downtown Altoona.
“So I’ve always loved pizza, and I would say that I’m passionate about it,” Garber said. “It’s something that’s been passed down in our family, pizza making. And I also love painting food that’s one of my favorite subjects to paint. So this was a way to highlight other local businesses and also tie in my artwork and my creativity. I thought it was just a great collab, and it would make a really fun series.”
