'You can still find joy': Artists create murals on vacant Allentown building to show unity and hope

BUFFALO — Artists have been creating murals on a vacant Allentown apartment building to show unity and hope after the losses the community has experienced recently.

"Art has a way of making people come together and work together,” said Jonathan White of the Allentown Association.

That’s the idea behind the street art.

"Even after the hard times after really dark events, you can still find joy,” said one of the artists, Sabrina Parsons.

Allentown has endured one shock after the next in the past year.

Last summer, the beloved Old Pink burned down.

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Then Mulligan’s Brick Bar, which was next door, also burned down.

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Then tragedy struck as Mickey Harmon and his partner Jordan Celotto, both beloved in Allentown, were murdered in their home in the neighborhood.

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A few weeks ago, the first piece appeared. It showed a tombstone and fire and the words: “Allentown is tired.” It was created by an artist who goes by the name Banksy Hates Me. Then, more artwork popped up.

One artist, who goes by the name Goosey Lawless, didn’t like the message of that first piece. So they came up with their own, which shows Allentown as a mythical phoenix rising from the ashes.

Parsons painted a rainbow with a message of hope.

"This piece may be all by itself would kind of have one message, but this piece, coupled with the other artworks around it, has a whole new meaning,” she said.

Barrett Schwalenberg of Shop Allen Street is supporting the effort. He provided the wooden boards for the artist. He pointed out that if the building were to be sold, the boards could be removed.

White believes Harmon, who was also an artist and a huge booster for Allentown, would have approved.

"Mickey would have loved it,” White said. “He would be down here every single day. He would be creating one of the murals, and he would be down here putting little touch-ups on them. And making sure that people know that that is the message that art has a way of building and sustaining communities, and we should all embrace that."