New Utica mural: ‘Everybody gets a little something out of it’

It has provoked much gawking in Utica, but for artist Jeremy Johnson that was exactly the idea.

Johnson is completing a mural at the beer garden on Mill Street in Utica. At first glance the design looks like simple graffiti; but Johnson is an abstract artist whose goal is to get people to ponder the work and draw their own conclusions.

“Abstract art is like music: it’s more about what we feel, not so much about what we see,” Johnson said. “It’s to bring us more in touch with our soul.

“It’s whatever the viewers interpretation and imagination wants to create. It’s meant to open our minds and take us out of conformity.”

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Jeremy Johnson, of Ottawa, paints a mural on a shipping container called "Utica Vibes," Friday, April 1, 2022, in downtown Utica. The mural is located at the new outdoor Obscurity Brewing and Craft Mead garden across from Lodi. The mural has the silhouette of James Clark, one of the successful business men that benefited from the completion of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Clark was one of the original founding residents of Utica. The silhouette of the eagle also represents the area and symbolizes wisdom, intuition, freedom strength, courage, hope, resilience, healing and vision. The center piece is an abstract interpretation of the area. Starved Rock, the river along with the town of Utica, are in the background. (Scott Anderson)

Johnson did, however, incorporate some images specific to Utica. The work includes a silhouette of James Clark, a Utica co-founder, and a silhouette of an eagle to represent the area and symbolize “wisdom, intuition, freedom, strength, courage, hope, resilience, healing and vision.”

Johnson was commissioned to paint the mural by Obscurity Brewing, which operates the beer garden. Co-owner Luke Goucher said he was looking for someone to put a creative splash onto the container and gravitated into Johnson’s studio and retail space, My Abstract Art & Apparel, located on Mill Street.

“After getting to know him and spending time in his shop,” Goucher said, “it just felt like the right thing to have a business owner with such unique talents be the one to exemplify the spirit of Utica.”

Goucher said he isn’t particularly a student of abstract art, but was pleased with how Johnson “captured some of vibes and moods of the area.”

“Everybody gets a little something out of it,” Goucher said.

While not everyone in Utica has embraced the design — traditionalists generally don’t favor abstract art as a whole — Johnson said he’s been pleased with the overall effect on visitors, who have stopped to take photos and commented on the vibrant colors.

“All art is subjective,” he said, “but for those that don’t understand abstract art, it is usually due to their judgment of not wanting to open their mind and create space from the norm. Like meditation, it can allow us to free the clutter of the mind, bringing us more in tune with that energy and connection. Abstract art is about uniqueness.”