Unity Tunnel Connects Columbia Tusculum Community 

By Robin Gee

Many people enjoy the bike and walking trail that runs from Downtown Cincinnati to Lunken Airport. It cuts right through the Columbia Tusculum neighborhood running along the river. Railroad tracks cut through the neighborhood, known as the oldest in Cincinnati, dividing it north and south. If it weren’t for a trail tunnel that leads under the old tracks and connects the community, bikers and walkers would have to go out of their way to navigate through the neighborhood.

The tunnel is dark, bland, but well-used, and for years community members expressed interest in brightening up and celebrating this passage that runs through and connects their community. There had been ongoing discussions at the Carnegie Center of Columbia Tusculum. The nonprofit community center is a hub of activity and connection offering classes, workshops, art and musical performances. 

Bringing an idea to life

“Community members have talked about the idea of sprucing up the tunnel and maybe putting a mural in there…And, of course, that takes a concerted effort and money and all of that good stuff,” said Dinese Young, executive director of the Carnegie Center.  

“So, I spearheaded the project this year, trying to bring it to fruition. I went out there and got a quote from an artist and sought a grant to spur the financial support. I was able to procure a grant from the Ohio Arts Council, and then we fundraised the rest through partnerships,” she said.

The center partnered with the community’s business organization, 3 East Business Association, which is our community’s business organization and the Columbia Tusculum Community Council. The Center raised funds and private donors from the community and local businesses also supported the project.

“Finally, we had fundraised enough money to go ahead and make the project happen. The idea was always to be community led…We wanted the community involved on every stage,” Young said.

An artist’s and a community’s vision 

The artist leading the project was Cincinnati-based muralist and illustrator L.D. Nehls whose work can be seen throughout Greater Cincinnati and across the river in Covington. Her colorful and vibrant work can be seen celebrating neighborhoods in Covington, Northside and College Hill; at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, along the Crown Trail and more. 

Nehls said she is a proud graduate of Beaver Creek High School where she had her first experiences with artscapes through set design for school theater productions. She studied sculpture and film photography at UC’s Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP) Department. Then, she found ArtWorks.

“I’ve got to give credit to ArtWorks for being such a great organization for Cincinnati artists. My first really large mural was a project that I had just done, a small design, and ArtWorks turned it into a mural.”

The collaborative process 

As part of its programming, the Carnegie Center hosts Community Art days every other year. Each year they pick an interactive art project designed to allow everyone to play a part. This year the “Unity Tunnel Mural” was the project. 

Nehls first met with a group of about 30 to 40 community members in August at the center. 

“I’ve done murals where we have community engagement sessions, just to get an idea of what the people who live and work around there want to see on this wall. What do they not want to see?…We have to make sure we’re being representative of everyone in the community. And for this one, it was really, truly community-designed,” she said.

“We arrived at the theme of transportation and connectivity, which makes a lot of sense being a pedestrian tunnel and the proximity to the railroad and also the river where you’re walking, walking around right there. And they’re also bike paths and bike lanes in that neighborhood…historically connecting neighborhoods.”

Nehls said a sense of history was really important to a lot of people, as well as a respect for the nature surrounding the neighborhood. People in Columbia Tusculum, she said, are very proud of their gardens and yards, and many plants to attract pollinators, hummingbirds and other birds into their space. 

They settled on a theme of transportation and connectivity because of the role the tunnel plays in the community, but Nehls said many wanted to see nature reflected as well. She said she slipped nature in wherever she could in the form of cone flowers, Lazarus lizards and tiny snails who live in the tunnel. Her snails are painted in colors that echo the area’s “painted ladies” houses.

Painting the Unity Tunnel Vision

Armed with community input and her own research, Nehls developed the design in her studio. As she was doing this, the community center was busy with the tunnel prep work. Volunteers cleaned and made small repairs to the tunnel, which is 8 feet tall and 65 feet long. Once ready the wall was primed. 

Nehls came in and drew her designs in black outline. The design was kept rather simple, she said, in order to allow for full participation by painters of all ages and abilities. 

“We want everyone to feel welcome to participate. So you basically have to have large areas of single flat color, without shading or pattern or detail to be able to say, ‘yes, you can bring your two year old.’ We really want everyone to be able to participate.”

Once the outlines are drawn, the mural really does become a paint-by-number project. The artist added numbers corresponding to the paint colors in each section to be painted.

On September 20 and 21, community members were invited out to paint away on their own community art piece. (At the time of this writing, that part was yet to come, but many said they were excited to be a part of the process).

Once the painting was complete Nehls would go in and do a few fixes and fill-ins here and there and add an anti-graffiti coating. 

“It’s really lovely to be involved in any kind of public art,” Nehls said. “Each project can be so different from the last project, and it’s really lovely to work with neighborhoods and communities of people who are excited about their neighborhood and excited about art and excited about working on something together. So it’s been great to get to be a part of that.”

The total cost to do the entire tunnel would be $13,000. The center raised enough for one wall but Young said the hope is to raise enough to do the second wall next spring or summer.

For more information, go to thecarnegiecenter.org.