When local artist Jordan Wong was commissioned by the St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation (SCSDC) to paint a mural on the side of a building next to Siam Café on E. 40th and St. Clair Ave. his first question was “Why me?”
The corporation’s response was simple: his use of vibrant colors, his ability to be whimsical and his capacity to bring past experiences into today and beyond.
According to Wong, he began developing the mural concept by visiting and speaking with Michael and May Hong, owners of Siam Café. Through listening to their stories of the immigrant experience — their journey to build a new life and home, and their efforts to foster a renewed sense of belonging — he envisioned vibrant color palettes and layered, modular compositions. The imagery he chose draws on flowing mountains and water, evoking the style and movement of traditional Chinese watercolor paintings.
The work, titled “Welcome Home,” which was unveiled on June 5, has a total of five boldly colored panels representing the past. The larger mural’s centerpiece depicts Chinese architecture reminiscent of a building that stood off the street on Superior Ave. near East 21st Street in the early 1980s. The mural will be lit at dusk each night.
“I believe the other projects I’ve done in Asiatown set me up for this opportunity to create something that is welcoming,” Wong said. “Thanks to the Hongs, this mural welcomes visitors into the Asiatown neighborhood that stretches to downtown. People pass it while heading west. So, the location really inspired the concept. I also wanted to have this artwork filled with Chinese cultural motifs that resonate with the histories of first being Chinatown, and then evolving into Asiatown.”
The St. Clair-Superior Development Corporation, with sponsorship from the Mandel Foundation, formed a collaboration to come up with something to inspire residents and visitors to this multi-racial community as they walk or drive the area.
Terri Hamilton-Brown, executive director of SCSDC, called the mural project a community-driven method to transform community spaces into vibrant, people-centered destinations.
“The murals have been going on for several years, and it’s part of a placemaking strategy,” she said. “We’ve created a guide to the public art that’s within our service area, which has over 30 listed. You can take a walking tour of our neighborhood and see the different pieces, and I believe the guide is on our website. The murals also give hope to businesses and residents, as well as generate conversation.”
Along with Wong, several other local artists have contributed their talents to the SCSDC venture, including Ouizi, aka Louise Jones, and Dayz Whun, who lives in the area and owns Red Lion Tattoo shop on St. Clair Ave.
Ouizi is responsible for “The Blossom Wall” and “The Deep End of Lake Erie,” both of which decorate retaining walls along E.72nd. Street near the entrance to I-90 East. “Blossom Wall” is a display of the many flowers, plants, insects and birds found near Lake Erie and throughout the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood. Deep End is a colorful, life-like aquatic painting that’s filled with plants, trout, walleye and other species of fish and plant life native to Lake Erie.
Whun is a native Clevelander who’s painted murals from E. 42nd Street and St. Clair Ave. to the Edmund-Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama. His passion for art started at a very young age. Thinking back, he believes it was born out of his wanting to escape what he described as a traumatic household.
“Art was my outlet and an escape from the things I was going through,” he said. “It made me an introvert, who was very quiet and stayed to myself, creating art. Also, my mother was an artist, and she taught me a lot about colors and shapes. I did my first mural at 12-years-old on the side of former basketball player Charles Oakley’s sister’s nail salon.”
A couple of his contributions include a mural that was initiated by Joe Kocian, the former owner of Kocian Meats, a next-door neighbor to the tattoo shop. Kocian went to SCSDC to commission Whun to paint a mural on the side of his building.
According to Whun, Kocian wanted something that reflects the community and the old Central Market, which stood where Progressive Field is now, and where the family business began.
The wall showcases an illustration celebrating Kocian’s 100-year history, honoring the many visitors who have passed through Kocian’s market while reflecting the future of the St. Clair–Superior community.
Claire Maurer, special projects manager at the Mandel Foundation, said the foundation has sponsored 10 murals in the area. The Mandel brothers grew up not far from here, so this area feels like home. Since their deaths, she said, the Foundation wants to continue to invest in neighborhoods around Cleveland.
Whun pointed out that art is therapeutic and is known to soothe troubled minds.
“Color theory is a real thing,” he said. If we’re able to beautify our walls, it changes the mentality and mindset. It’s been proven that certain colors lower the cortisol level, and in turn help to manage stress.”
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