Question: “Could you do a story about the new mural being painted at the grandstand as the Richland County Fair gets ready to celebrate its 175th anniversary?”
MANSFIELD — Drew Anderson likes to find ways to express himself in terms of art.
Drawing. Painting. Singing. Acting. Music.
The 37-year-old Mansfield man is at it again this summer, working on a grandstand mural as the Richland County Fair prepares to celebrate its 175th anniversary in August.
The work is being commissioned by the Richland County Fair Board, according to President Christy Keith, acting on a suggestion from former board member Pam Young.
When it comes to art, an early member of the Art Sector at the Richland Community Development Group, the award-winning Anderson can’t stop himself from creating.
He concluded a run in May with a role in the comedy “Squirrel Lake” at the Mansfield Playhouse in May. Anderson immediatel dove back in and will perform in the “Wizard of Oz” ensemble in a show that will stage in late July/early August at the Renaissance Theatre.
Anderson was busy Sunday afternoon working on the fairgrounds art project, a nine-panel mural that documents the fair’s storied history. Each colorful panel documents about two decades of the Richland County Fair.
With a full-time job as the purchasing manager at Ohio Valley Stamping and Assembly in Mansfield, Anderson didn’t have time to allow the heat of a summer afternoon to slow down his art.
“I started this last Friday and I am hoping to be done by July 16,” Anderson said, slowing down long enough for a Richland Source interview. “It will definitely be done by the time the fair starts (Aug. 3).”
Anderson said fair officials supplied some of the historical information upon which his mural is based. He added a lot of his own research done in the Sherman Room at the Mansfield Richland County Public Library.
He said he is using exterior latex paint on the mural.
“It is specifically made for outdoors and it’s water resistant, so we don’t have to worry about anything getting messed up with water. A of the paint that I’m using is fade resistant from the sun as well, though,” Anderson said.
(Below are photos taken at the Richland County Fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon a new mural commissioned to mark the 175th anniversary of the local county fair. The story continues below the images.)
Art has always been a safe haven for the man who graduated from Madison Comprehensive High School in 2007.
“I have been interested in art since I was a kid. I struggled with ADHD from a very young age. School work didn’t interest me at all, but drawing did. That was the only thing that can keep my focus.
“That progressed into painting through high school. But after high school, I didn’t really do anything art art related until about 2016, 2017,” the lifelong Mansfield resident said.
He has more than made up for lost time, becoming one of the most active local artists.
Anderson earned the Paul McClain Legacy Award for Painting in 2023 at ManAfest, formerly known as the Mansfield Arts and Culture Festival.
He was one of four artists commissioned to paint about 75 percent of the Jericho Wall of Remembrance and Recovery in 2023. His “Rebel Without a Caws” submission in Crowfest in 2023 at the Mansfield Art Center earned the “Punniest Crow” award.
As a performer who has also appeared at the Renaissance Theatre in “Grease,” “Hello Dolly” and “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the work at the fairgrounds is his fourth local mural, including “Through the Eyes of a Child” for Richland County Children Services on display outside the Renaissance.
Keith said the Fair Board was thrilled to have him do the work, which will help kick off what fair officials hope will be a great dodransbicentennial year for the fair.
“I think it’s awesome,” she said Sunday afternoon. “We are hoping to have a (mural) dedication ceremony during the opening ceremonies on Aug. 3 at 3 p.m. over by the flagpole.”
Entertainment at this year’s fair will include a Christian concert by Jordan Feliz and Riley Clemons, a tiger show with Brunon Blaszak and a local “Weiner Dog” race with a $500 first prize.
“We’re really just trying to continue to make it a family affair,” Keith said.
(Below is the fair book for the 175th Richland County Fair, scheduled for Aug. 3-9.)
