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Morris T. Howard

More Mural Art in Progress

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A group of volunteers from Synchrony Financial work on a new downtown mural under the supervision of Brittini Brill Long. Brittini is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Montgomery County Juvenile Court who facilitates the HAALO program. The mural is on Stone Street, near the Neon Movies. HAALO people will be doing the bulk of the painting this summer, with help from artists from K12 Gallery and TEJAS. HAALO stands for Helping Adolescents Achieve Long-Term Objectives.

Brittini showed me the design for this block long mural. The original idea, from artist Morris T. Howard, would have used only two panels on this long concrete wall. But that original idea has grown, and the mural will now fill all of the block’s 21 panels. The mural is called The Land of Funk, and will incorporate designs from several Dayton artists. I’ll be sure to share more photos as the project continues.

Artist Morris T. Howard

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Morris returned to his home town of Dayton a few years ago when his mother became ill. “I thought I would stay in Dayton for only a few weeks,” he told me. “That was a couple of years ago, and I’m still here.”

Since returning to Dayton, Morris has been welcomed into the area’s art community. He designed the mural that was installed at the Transportation Center Garage, across the street from The Neon Movie, last fall. Then he was chosen to paint a mural at Dayton Visual Arts Center called “Back in the Day When We Used to Dance.” Morris also teaches art for K12 Gallery and TEJAS at JCARE, one of the Montgomery County Juvenile Courts facilities where K12 coordinates art classes for court involved teens.

I saw that Morris was a perfectionist as he showed me some of his paintings. With each one, he told me what he could have done differently to make it better. The painting in this photo has already been shown in one exhibition, but Morris decided to change one small detail to improve the work.

This year his paintings have appeared in two Dayton exhibitions. The first, Dayton Skyscrapers, was shown at the Schuster Center, at the DP&L Headquarters, and at the Ebonia Gallery. The second, Breathing Deeply, Pushing Back, is currently at the Dayton Visual Arts Center.

I asked Morris if he planned to stay in Dayton. “I’m not sure if I will be staying here” he said “but it seems like people want me to stay. That’s a good feeling.”