SCRANTON, Pa. — More than 12,000 square feet of retaining wall now shows everything Lackawanna County has to offer in winter, spring, summer, and fall.
"And they've got everything from, like, as they said, the pumpkins to the snow, to the sun in the summer. Yeah, I think it's great," said Barbara Kelleher of Scranton.
Community members and local leaders gathered at the President Biden Expressway and Jefferson Avenue intersection in downtown Scranton to celebrate the completion of The Four Seasons of Lackawanna County mural project.
Over the last two summers, artists John Park and Julie Hunter worked for months to complete the massive piece.
Drawing on the area's rich history and stories from the community.
"To see it finally done and to get all this appreciation, that just feels wonderful," said mural artist John Park.
"Just to know that we did this together feels just great for us professionally, and to know it's in my hometown," said artist Julie Hunter. "We get to see it again."
Even after the expressway mural was completed, the artists continued to beautify the city, creating this mural along Biden Street with leftover paint and supplies.
"Maybe you don't notice the plain wall. But when something that beautiful is on it, it kind of, you can't help but smile like it really transforms places," said Maureen McGuigan, Lackawanna County Director of Arts and Culture.
But before enjoying the other murals across the city's landscape...residents are proud that the one along the expressway will be the first one many people see.
"To see this is again a reflection of the hope that we have and definitely, you know, the vision of what the future looks like in this area," said Maryellen Cardamone of Scranton.
The lane closures around the mural along the Biden Expressway will be lifted on Wednesday.