The Early Owego Antique Center, in partnership with Tioga Arts Council, has announced the completed restoration and enhancement of the iconic “Owego” mural.
Jim Mead, owner of the Early Owego Antique Center, stated, “We inherited the mural in 2013 when we purchased the building and it was already 12-years-old. It came with no requirements or plans for maintenance. While the piece remained intact for many years, we began seeking a solution to either repair or replace the image once it began deteriorating four years ago. While various governmental funding sources were tried through the tireless efforts of Team Tioga, no existing programs fit the bill.”
Residents and those traveling through Owego last week were in for a treat as the mural on the side of the Early Owego Antique Center, that greets visitors and offers a map, was being restored. Photo credit: Peter Gordon.
In 2023, EOAC reached out to Tioga Arts Council (TAC) to form a partnership in order to restore and enhance the outdoor wall. Since it is the central platform for the arts in Tioga County and a nonprofit organization, TAC sought and received funds to support this endeavor. The vision of TAC is to inspire and support a vibrant creative community, and supporting this mural project helps advance and realize this vision.
Contributing monetarily to the project are three well-known local Foundations, the Fanny C. Hyde Charitable Trust, the Mildred Faulkner Truman Foundation, and the Tioga State Bank (TSB) Foundation. Jim and Cornelia Mead also contributed, personally, to the project.
“We’re proud that the TAC agreed to act as lead to gather support for the Mural’s preservation,” Mead said. “And it’s fitting that these steadfast local foundations came to aid the ailing sign face,” he continued.
The much-loved outdoor mural is located on the north façade of the JJ Newberry Building at 43-45 Lake St. in Owego, which houses the Early Owego Antique Center. The JJ Newberry building sits at the corner of Main and Lake Streets and directly at the foot of North Avenue.
With over five million vehicles passing per year, in addition to pedestrian traffic, the artistically painted north façade of this building has unprecedented visibility and prominence for Village of Owego visitors and residents. The mural adds color, vibrancy, and character to the Village, serving both as an artistic visible anchor of the Historic Owego Marketplace and as a key wayfinding indicator.
Built in 1958 as the location of the JJ Newberry Department Store, the building represents Owego’s largest single retail space. The existing mural was funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in 2001 and painted by muralist and sign painter Tim Tarbox.
The mural measures 24 feet high by 85 feet wide, covering 2,040 square feet. An impressionistic scenic landscape is in the background, with ‘OWEGO’ prominently painted in large font to the left and a simple, readable map of the Village featured on the right. The map indicates points of interest and illustrates various parking locations, a wayfinding component of particular importance to Village business owners. In 2019, the New York State Department of Transportation estimated an average daily traffic count of 14,320 vehicles for this location (the State Route 17C/96 segment); 5,226,800 vehicles view the mural per year.
A veteran of at least two national TV appearances and countless YouTube and Social Media posts, the map and mural have become almost synonymous with Owego.
“From the start, as the property owners, we retained discretion over the image,” Mead said.
An updated design was developed by the original artist, Tim Tarbox, formerly of Newark Valley and Owego, now of Desert Hot Springs, Calif., in collaboration with Mead.
Owego’s long history and current vitality has much to do with its location as a transportation hub. A depiction of rafts men from 1800 guiding a raft of lumber, sawn on the water powered mills along the Owego Creek, bound for Baltimore completes the scene, meant to depict our importance as a thoroughfare for literally two centuries. Bruce Greig was hired as the contractor to execute the restoration and redesign.
Bruce Greig has completed over 350 murals in his 45 years of painting. He has also worked as an artist on the set of Major Motion Pictures such as “Lord of the Rings”, “The Hobbit”, “10,000 BC”, and “King Kong”. Given the size of the mural, he enlisted Stephen Whitman, “Stilettos Fine Arts Studio” in Binghamton, to assist with completion of the mural.
According to Mead, the well-known mural has been granted a new lease on life. Now, with this new addition to the iconic mural, Mead hopes it rekindles memories of the first mural while also raising awareness of Owego’s history for the next generation of residents and visitors who live, work, and enjoy downtown Owego.
To mark this momentous occasion and the next chapter of this mural, there will be a Ribbon Cutting on Wednesday, June 5, at 11 a.m. at the EOAC, located at 43-45 Lake St. in Owego.
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