JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – When Hiromi Katayama and four Greater Johnstown High School students started working to create a mural together, she posed one question to them – “What is Johnstown?”
Katayama, a native of Japan who lives in Washington, Pennsylvania, was unfamiliar with the city, so student-artists Nichole Harrity, Brice Mroczka, Korei Donitzen and Anthony Kirby told her about the area’s rich history, what life is like here today and their vision for the future.
Their ideas were then combined into a painting that celebrates the bygone days of steel mills and trollies, looks at popular pastimes of today such as Coal Tubin’ and Thunder in the Valley, and imagines a future that includes ziplining and a monorail.
“These guys came up with awesome ideas. … We put all the fun ideas into the one piece of the mural to describe Johnstown,” said Katayama, an artist with the Rural Arts Collaborative.
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