Akron, Ohio has a beer blog, one or more beer breweries, and now, beer art. Beer graffiti, to be precise. The owner of the brewery is seeking to unite with that art, and its maker.
Ron Shea, founder of R. Shea Brewing Co., has become entranced by huge, colorful graffiti emblazoning, Peter Max-style, the word “BEER” on bridge supports around town.
“What’s the story behind that?” he asked the Akron Beacon Journal‘s beer blog.
While the art is ubiquitous, the artist is not. The works are unsigned, and Shea doesn’t even know when the graffiti was painted.
It’s a mystery, and one that he would like to solve. Shea wants to hire whoever it is to decorate a new brewery space he’s got opening up this summer, the Beacon Journal said.
While staying anonymous is part of the fun for graffiti creators, Shea wants this artist to belly up to the bar – and then paint it.
The entrepreneur’s up-and-coming 58,000-square-foot brewery occupies two floors in a red-brick industrial building that has housed two popular eateries in the past, pre-dated by a sand volleyball court and a basketball hoop and game room, the Akron Beacon Journal said.
The artist’s identity may not be that much of a mystery. The “story behind that” may simply be that it’s the artist’s name – or at least his handle.
An artist who calls himself “Beers” was interviewed in Akron Life back in 2011. Even more telling is a documentary, “Akron: Under the Bridge,” that actually contains footage of a masked Beers creating one of his masterpieces.
The clandestine nature of the art-cum-sport is part of the allure.
“I’ve got chased, caught, got away, close calls, fights, met some of the most interesting people, and made some of the best friends I have from doing graffiti,” Beers told Akron Life. “To me, it’s much more than the act of painting something. It’s a mind-set, a way of life.”
