By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Of the dozen or so murals that Chris Catalogna has painted, the one he’s working on now, adjacent to the new Madison Park that pays tribute to the old Madison Elementary, might be his favorite.
That’s because unlike most, his initial sketch for this mural didn’t undergo heavily scrutinized revisions.
Set forth by AkzoNobel as part of a global painting initiative, the initial sketch by the 26-year-old Fort Wayne artist is intended to pay homage to the school that reflects the past and the future.
The image, when complete, will show students streaming out of the front of the school with youngsters in the past cast in black and white and those in the future painted in color.
“It’s pretty much my first design I put out — they were happy with it and it just took a little tweaking here and there,” Catalogno said about the approval process.
“That was a breath of fresh air,” he said.
More interestingly, one of the students in the image will be seen holding a miniature US Space Shuttle.
Catalogno said he later learned that NASA relied on AkzoNobel for exterior paint on the spaceship.
“This happens almost every time I do a design, it’s like there’s some weird coincidence that happens and it turns out. It works perfectly, I had no idea,” Catalogna said.
AkzoNobel is sponsoring the project as part of its global Let’s Color initiative which the company said has transformed communities around the world for more than a decade.
To date, the program has involved 3,059 community projects.
AkzoNobel Warsaw Site Manager Hector Loyola told an assembled crowd celebrating the plan that such programs show how much they believe in the power of paint.
“We are eager to bring our passion for coloring for our community to Warsaw,” Loyola said. “We believe in the power of paint … and we are thrilled to partner with Main Street Warsaw, Warsaw Public Arts Commission and Clearly Kosciusko and Chris Catalogna,” he said.
AkzoNobel specializes in paint for a wide range of uses including aerospace, marine, yachts, coils, wood finishes and automotive, according to Ryan Baker, continuous improvement manager for the company.
The company has about 35,000 employees in 120 plants across the country.
The Warsaw facility produces powder coatings.
The painting will be on the west side of the exterior wall of the new YMCA, which opened earlier this year and is part of a multi-faceted development that’s part of a residential development by G&G Hauling and Excavating.
Cary Groninger, a Kosciusko County Commissioner and president of G&G, said the painting is “a great throwback to the Madison school history.”
“This is just another thing that adds to the community and the vibrancy of our downtown,” Groninger said.
