The man in front of me asked, “Can you tell me who the player is on the left?” as I stopped to look at the mural.
“Hmmm,” I replied.
“I’m not sure. I recognize the other players, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, and Angelique Kerber.
But I’m not sure who the fourth player is.”
It was the second day of the 2016 Western & Southern Open tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio.
I had stopped on my way to the Grandstand court when I saw a group of fans watching two artists painting a wall mural on the Center Court wall across from the food court.
“Has anyone asked the painters?” I asked. The other tennis fans shook their heads.
So I asked.
About the Mural
Matthew Dayler is one of three artists from Higher Level Art, a Dayton, Ohio art collective, that is working on the mural. They were commissioned by Western & Southern Financial Group to create this year’s mural.
Earlier in the year, the artists were given photos of the tennis players for the mural.
Based on the selected photos, the artists created a mural design that included the players’ profiles along with well-known Cincinnati buildings and destinations as well as the Western & Southern logo.
The mural is started on the first day of the tournament. Work continues throughout the tournament; you can stop and watch the progress during the tournament week.
The Fourth Player
And who was the fourth player in the mural?
Dayler told me it was Garbine Mugaruza. You could more readily recognize Mugaruza as the mural neared completion later in the week.
Unfortunately, since I left the tournament early, I didn’ get a photo of the completed mural. The photo in this post shows the mural on day 5.
Which Cincinnati destinations do you recognize in the mural?
