A new outdoor mural at the Greenwood Park Mall honors local first responders, military service members and doctors.
Drawn in the style of a postcard by University of Indianapolis junior art student Sydney Nichols, the new mural features portraits of police, fire and paramedics, along with a doctor and military service member, over downtown Greenwood. It is located between T-Mobile and Kumo Japanese Steakhouse.
Nichols’ mural was formally unveiled on Saturday during the mall’s first annual Public Safety Day. For about 10 years, the mall has been wanting to hold a Public Safety Day to bring local first responders, military branches and the community out, said Tiffani Adkins, the mall’s director of marketing and business development.
“Finally, it was the right time to do it. We had the days to do it,” Adkins said.
The Public Safety Day was also the inspiration for the mural, which mall officials wanted to have dedicated to local first responders and the military. For the mural, mall officials wanted to work with someone local to create it, she said.
“We wanted somebody in our state, in our community that could put up this mural, and also a college student to be able to show off her skill and put something on her resume that she can share with other people as well. We were happy to do that,” Adkins said.
Nichols, who lives in Lawrence, first learned about the proposed mural in early May while she was finishing up her finals at UIndy. One of her professors, Jim Viewegh, stopped her in the hallway to tell her about the mall’s plans and said he thought Nichols would be the perfect person to do it.
“I was like, ‘Oh, cool, sounds good. You can give them my email,’” she said. “Then Tiffani filled me in on everything, and we worked out some stuff and I ended up doing it.”
One of Nichols’ first thoughts after the mall reached out to her was how the mural could be a good way to bring the community together in light of last year’s shooting at the mall, which was a tragic event, she said.
“As I was working on it, that would come up a few times,” Nichols said. “I felt lucky that (Public Safety Day) is happening and we can appreciate the law enforcement and the people who take care of the community around us.”
Over the last three weeks, Nichols spent nearly 50 hours working on the mural. She would come by the mall anywhere from three to five times a week to paint it.
Nichols included law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics and military service members on the mural. She also decided to include a doctor with a mask on as a slight time capsule to the events over the last few years.
Both Nichols and the mall also wanted to have it have bright colors, something that is achieved by the phrase on the mural — “Greetings from Greenwood” — which is in bright shades of white, orange and yellow.
“It’s very bold — you can see it from super far away. It sticks out,” Nichols said. “And then the figures on either side of Greenwood are in black and white so that it pops.”
One of the most difficult parts of creating the mural involved the weather. Because of the air quality alerts issued due to Canadian wildfire smoke last month, Nichols was unable to be outside for long periods to work on it, she said.
The texture of the wall was also a challenge for Nichols.
“I’m used to canvases or flat boards, but this is like a cement, concrete-type of thing,” she said. “It’s very rough and bumpy, so the application of paint takes a lot more passes. It’s something I wasn’t used to; it was a new challenge, but it worked out well.”
Throughout the process, Nichols was in shock that she was chosen to do the mural. There was a little bit of pressure on her as she knew that people would walk by it every day as the mall is busy, she said.
Luckily, she received support from not only her friends and family but also people who walked by as she worked on the mural.
“A lot of people would stop and ask me questions about it or give me words of encouragement,” Nichols said. “I remember one couple brought me Cokes from TGI Friday to show me some support.”
Adkins said the new mural ties in a community piece the mall needs. They love having the community visit the mall, she said.
“(The mural) is a great selfie moment, but also as people drive by the center, they’re reminded that we have these first responders and what all they sacrifice for us and for our community,” Adkins said.
Nichols feels honored that she was able to do something for the community.
“I feel very honored that I was able to do something that represents the community in such a positive way,” she said.
Nichols encourages those who visit the mall to check out the mural and to take a photo by it. The goal is for it to represent something bright, happy and positive, she said.
