WILKES-BARRE — Driving past Wet Paint Printing + Design, at 152 Horton St., one is bound to notice the building.
Painted black and covered in art, owner Stephen Taren hopes the site impacts the community.
“I celebrate art. I want to share something with the neightborhood — this neighborhood needs life and color,” Taren said. “The pleasure I get from this building is the art that I can share, and I don’t really care how much it costs.”
All of the art on the Wet Paint building is either vinyl work by Taren or painted by local artist Leigh Pawling, and each piece holds meaning, they said.
The building’s newest mural, titled “Art in Progress” and painted by Pawling, is meant to celebrate pop art, youth and love.
Taren said that he unknowingly named the project several years ago during another project with Pawling — he had given her signs that say “Slow down! Art in Progress.”
“I had completely forgotted about those signs. Then she pulled them out and I realized that I named (the mural) a few years ago. The universe is on our side.”
The mural pays homage to artists such as Keith Herring, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Banksy and others, while also showing the messier side of art as it is in progress — a scaffolding and a bucket of paint, usually removed from the premises after the completion of a mural, are proudly featured as part of the work. The artist, albeit a ghostly interpretation of her, also has a place in the large painting, which Taren reported was 40 feet by 14 feet.
Pawling’s newest work is her fourth collaboration with the business owner.
“Steve had the idea of paying homage to these pop artists, and he kind of lays out what he wants and I do a study of it,” Pawling explained, adding that the two go back and forth with different ideas and change things accordingly. “He has a strong imagination.”
“Me and Leigh have the best collaboration relationship. I was very particular about this project. I had every detail in mind before I called her,” Taren said. “Believe me, she filled in a lot of holes. She’s the talent, but I knew what I wanted.”
The mural was completed after three weeks and several revisions, and the reception has been phenomenal, according to the collaborators.
“People come by, all different types of people, all ages, all different ethnicities, and they all nod their head, say ‘good job,’ or stop to talk. I’ve been out here, a lot of cars pass, and there hasn’t been one incident where I was offended in any way,” Pawling said. “They’re just excited to see something. The people in this neighborhood are so nice, and just I think that for Steve to be doing this, they really appreciate it.
“There’s a lot of things in the world that aren’t going right, and it’s just a warm, fuzzy feeling you get from it.”
“No one ever tags it. I’ve never been tagged in eight years. Not one. They respect the building,” Taren said.
Taren hopes to start a trend of art appreciation in the city.
“The whole thing is about the celebration of art in our neighborhood and trying to get other people inspired to do something with their buildings. That’s what I want,” Taren added, explaining that while many murals in the area are beautiful, they are done with spray paint and templates. “This one is fine art on a big scale.”
