Trains (mural)
{{Short description|Mural in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Trains
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| wikidata = Q7832995
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| caption = The mural in 2008
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| year = {{start date|1989}}
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| condition = Hidden from view
| museum = 630 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio
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| coordinates = {{coord|39.97526|-83.00292|format=dms|type:landmark_region:US-OH|display=inline,title}}
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Trains is a two-story tall mural in the Short North and Italian Village neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio. The mural was painted by Gregory and Jeff Ackers facing a parking lot in the commercial district. The work has been lost or hidden from view since about 2014, when a hotel was built on the parking lot site.
History
Created by Jeff and Gregory Ackers in 1989, it covers the south wall of Bernard's Tavern and depicts passengers (some who are British royalty) on a train arriving in Columbus' Union Station. The work was painted at the behest of the organization Citizens for a Better Skyline.
It was across a parking lot of another Ackers-created mural, Union Station.[http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/clintonville/news/2012/03/27/artist-selected-for-planned-mural.html "Artist Selected for Planned Mural"], Kevin Parks. This Week Community News. 28 mar 2012. Retrieved 20 jun 2012. Greg Ackers restored both works in 1998.{{cite news|title=RESTORATION HELPS ARTIST FULFILL HIS HEART'S DESIRE - MURALIST GIVING PROCEEDS FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH|newspaper=The Columbus Dispatch|date=August 12, 1998|access-date=March 21, 2023|url=https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/10DE42B25ADF5178}}
The mural was considered to be in good shape in 2012.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thisweeknews.com/article/20120612/news/306129605|title=Muralist ready to make a scene in Clintonville}} Around 2014, the hotel Le Méridien Columbus, The Joseph was built on the space that served as a parking lot and both murals can no longer be seen.{{Cite web|url=https://www.columbusunderground.com/before-and-after-short-north-bw1|title = Before and After: Short North|date = 11 August 2020}} Also lost during the project was a mural, Cliff Dwellers, based on the George Bellows painting.
Artist Gregory Ackers responded to the planned development eliminating his work in 2012: "The way I see it, some things in life are permanent and some things are temporary. Acceptance is a hard thing, but I accept it."{{cite news|title=SHORT NORTH - Mural project shows changing landscape|newspaper=The Columbus Dispatch|date=August 2, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2023|url=https://infoweb-newsbank-com.webproxy3.columbuslibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/1406ADD21682C588}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Ohio|Visual arts}}
- {{commons category-inline}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNVHb6BcMvw WOSU feature on the mural and its counterpart]
{{Public art in Columbus, Ohio}}