Community members paint sections of a mural to be placed around the entrance to Point Park in the Parkersburg floodwall Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo by Clara Noelle)

PARKERSBURG –The Parkersburg Art Center held a painting party Friday and Saturday.

Members of the public could come by and paint on parachute paper that will make up a new mural around the entrance to Point Park in the Parkersburg floodwall.

“We’ve had so much help,” said Senta Goudy, dean of civic engagement at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. “We have had families come in and adults just wanting to paint.”

Artist Nichole Westfall designed the mural after assisting muralist Greta McClain with Good Space mural on the side of the Art Center in 2021.

“I hope to continue painting murals until I physically can’t anymore,” Westfall said.

Family members paint a piece of parachute paper as part of a mural to be applied to the entrance to Point Park at the floodwall Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. (Photo by Clara Noelle)

She outlined the pieces of parachute paper and coded them to be painted easily. The paint and paper are UV-protected to stand the test of time.

“It’s kind of like wallpaper,” Goudy says. “It will last forever. It is a nice way to have permanent art that was made by the community.”

“The painters pick a color or a piece of parachute paper they want to work on,” Goudy said. “And from there they will pick up a color of paint that correlates with what section they are going to paint.”

Once all of the pieces are finished, Westfall planned to take them back to her studio to touch them up and ready them to be applied to the wall.

This project is part of the Arts Collaborative of the Mid-Ohio Valley and is funded by a grant from the City of Parkersburg.

A piece of finished parachute paper is hung to dry Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center. It’s one of multiple pieces of a mural designed by artist Nichole Westfall that community members were invited to paint Friday and Saturday. (Photo by Clara Noelle)

Clara Noelle can be reached at intern@newsandsentinel.com.