A group of Taft High School students is applying its own style — with paint brushes and primer — to a Corryville landmark.

        Students from Taft and Project Succeed will work through the school year to scrape, prime, repaint and seal the weather- and graffiti-damaged mural behind the Cincinnati Public Schools Education Center parking garage.

Taft High student Kristy Weaver, 15, scrapes paint Tuesday from the mural on William Howard Taft Road. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        A group of those students applied the first layer of primer on Tuesday.

        “It will actually be doing something good for the community,” sophomore Dana Walker said.Ù “We've had a couple people walk by saying, "Hey, we like what you're doing' and honking their horns.”

        The project is sponsored by a YouthReach Ohio grant for at-risk teens through the Ohio Arts Council and is being overseen by artists participating in “Yo! Art!,” one of four programs offered by ArtLinks.

        Since its creation in the 1980s by art students at what was then Merry Junior High School, the mural along William Howard Taft Road, between Burnet and Highland avenues, has become well-known in the community.

        The 320-foot-long wall was touched up in 1996 by Art Works, an initiative of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, but will now be completely refurbished. In the past the wall was not primed properly, which caused the paint to crack and wear away.

        “We're going to do it right this time,” said Linda Tresvant, executive director of ArtLinks.

        Johnny Watson, a sophomore at Taft, said the mural was a disaster before the students started reworking it. “It will help the image of Taft,” he said.
       

Airport wrestles with runway danger
Ballpark bonds to cost taxpayers less
Lindner awaits Amtrak payday
Democrats target blacks in get-out-the-vote effort
$750K to be spent for Ohio Issue 1
RADEL: Riverfront Park
Sounds of South go sour
Students lend time, talent to repair mural
Drug dealer sold meth to truckers, police say
Man, 64, accused of selling meth
Shirey advisers question ballpark logo
Annual sessions face hurdles
Anti-Resnick ad pulled, replaced
Chain store unwelcome on Main
Charges spark KKK probe
City Council likely to approve lower millage rate
City landmark being reborn
City race will make history
Florence examines possibilities
IRS to specialize center
Kidnapping case stays in stalemate
1963 killing in high court
Mediation cuts pupil fights 54%
Neighbors of bar complain
Pope to name St. Thomas More saint of poltics
Prosecutor candidates spar over dismissed cases
State Sen., challenger meet today
W. Va. governor, foe criticized for silence
Waynesville haunts sought
Winner requests trust
Woman accused of sex with teen
In the schools
Kentucky Education Notes
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report