The Downtown Mural to go up on Domino’s Pizza building
Local artist Ridge Bonnick is bringing a new mural installation to Domino’s Pizza in downtown Apopka.
The work started last Thursday, July 24, and is expected to finish on Aug. 23, according to a Main Street Apopka news release.
Called “The Downtown Mural,” the latest addition is going up at the franchise’s building on 2 E. Main St., joining the several murals already painted in downtown Apopka that reflect local culture, and revitalizing the community bond and public spaces.
Apopka Murals, a local arts program that aims to beautify downtown with public art, planned the location and installation for The Downtown Mural.
“We believe public art is a powerful tool to energize our downtown,” President Caitlin Kasheta of Main Street Apopka said in the news release. “Ridge’s unique style and personal story make him the perfect artist to help tell Apopka’s story in a bold, beautiful way—while reinforcing our goals of visual transformation and community engagement.”
The murals exemplify Main Street Apopka’s focus on breathing new life into historic downtown using Main Street America’s four-point approach: design, promotion, economic vitality and organization.
The Downtown Mural reflects the design and promotion approaches in action, the press release said. Through design, this project is enhancing downtown’s physical and visual assets to create a more inclusive, inviting and visually engaging environment.
Commissioning local artists like Bonnick and recognizing their work in a public setting helps foster interest, build civic pride and drum up attention to local businesses, according to the news release.
For the past two years, Bonnick has been creating professional murals and art across the state. A self-taught artist, he discovered art at an early age, molding clay in school and sketching during church. Since then, his love of art bloomed into a full-time passion, viewing his gift of creativity as a means of therapy and freedom.
“Art has always been my outlet,” Bonnick said in the news release. “Every piece I create is about connecting what’s inside us to the world around us.”
Bonnick has painted murals all over Central Florida from Orlando and Daytona/New Smyrna to Windermere and Longwood. For two straight years, he has been featured in the Black History Month exhibit at Orlando City Hall.
The Main Street Apopka news release encouraged locals to meet Bonnick and watch his process of creating The Downtown Mural. Visitors may post about the process on their social media pages, tagging Main Street Apopka and using the hashtags #theresmoretoexplore and #downtownapopka.
Downtown Apopka features many murals that visitors can explore using a self-guided art tour, which spotlighted historic landmarks, storied architecture and popular hot spots in the area. For a full list of mural sites, visit MainStreetApopka.com/art.