Students and volunteers give Portland a new coat of paint

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - You may notice a new mural added to the colorful collection in Portland.

Four historical homes have been reimagined into a technicolor dream on Lytle Street. It’s just piece of a larger beautification initiative happening in Portland right now. While the illustrations of these homes are painted in rainbows, volunteer groups are actually painting real life homes in these wonderful shades, as well.

The mural features four iconic West End properties including Muhammad Ali’s childhood home, the Seelbach Estate, a turreted Victorian home on Portland Ave, as well as the house that started the initiative. The illustrations come from a coloring book created by Dr. John Gilderbloom, Danny Seim and Katy Delahanty called Chromatic Homes.

Volunteers from the Governor’s Scholars Program (GSP) braved the heat to brighten up the neighborhood with the mural, teaming up with Portland Now and Louisville Visual Art.

GSP is a summer program made up of top academic students from 120 counties throughout the state.

“It’s just beautiful to see this artwork popping up in just a few hours,” Carly McDonald said.

Jack Lehman added: “It’s going to draw attention to these buildings and people will realize the history and how cool they are.”

Of course the childhood home of Muhammad Ali stands out in the bunch, but it’s the home on the end that started it all: 2302 Portland Avenue.

Portland artist and activist Danny Seim started painting the abandoned Civil War-era Victorian farmhouse for free without asking for permission.

Now those community groups have teamed up to paint and revitalize more homes along Portland Avenue for free.

“There is a big, collaborative spirit between organizations because there is such a need for beautification and pride,” Louisville Visual Art’s Outreach Director Katy Delahanty said.

The house they are working on revitalizing is located at 2400 Portland Avenue. The mural isn’t finished quite yet; they’re planning on bringing in some more volunteers to finish.

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