WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — There was a big celebration in Wilkes-Barre last weekend, with the unveiling of new interactive art pieces downtown.
Grayson Rogers is adding some finishing touches to a mural on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. He tried to finish it up by this past weekend for the mural's ribbon-cutting, but he says interest in his work from passersby has been a bit of a distraction.
"So many people stop and talk, which is good because it's community-based, and it really brings a lot of people over and the inquiry about how we started," said Rogers.
"It's impressive. It really is because you're so used to seeing Wilkes-Barre where you always think of the bad things, you know, where the homeless people and whatever, so it gives it a bad rap. But to see that the mission commissioned someone to do that on a wall, it's just wonderful," said Maris Coley.
Kevin Harger-Blizzard is with Team Beezy and a volunteer with Leadership Northeast. He says the mural and the interactive sculpture across the street are all part of his group's initiative to create a buzz in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
"We wanted to connect kids with the arts. And we also heard that a lot of downtown businesses were struggling due to the pandemic, so we thought, why not try to tackle both of those issues?"
The sculpture across the street is interactive and allows for some play from anyone visiting midtown village.
"I was hoping to, you know, inspire some creativity and have them use their imagination and zip the bees around, and spin it and really play with the thing," said sculptor Scott Nichols.
The mural offers a chance to play for people too.
The mayor of Wilkes-Barre tells Newswatch 16 that this will be the beginning of many artistic additions to the city, and these artists hope to continue to be a part of it.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube channel.