MLK mural bringing community together

STEUBENVILLE -- With each stroke of his paint brush, muralist Kyle Holbrook is celebrating the legacy of a man who was gunned down by an assassin before he was even born.

Holbrook, 44, is back in Steubenville, this time painting a mural on the wall of American Legion Post 274 in the North End community honoring the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights activist whose message still resonates nearly 60 years after his death.

Holbrook sees it as a labor of love, a way to bring people together.

"I want my art to galvanize people," he said. "(Steubenville) is the City of Murals, but there was no mural on this side of town, in the African American community -- that's why this one is so important. When they approached me, I was really honored to be part of it, to bring people together through my art."

The mural is sponsored by Steubenville's Martin Luther King Jr. Association and funded through a beautification grant from the Pugliese Foundation.

Foundation President Jim Baber said if bringing people together was his goal, Holbrook's mural is already doing it.

"Yesterday, two cars stopped right here in the road" to voice their appreciation, Baber said. On Friday morning, as committee members gathered in front of the mural to check on Holbrook's progress, drivers of all ages and races paused at the intersection to tell the artist "I love it" and "That's beautiful, keep it up."

"So many people come by," Holbrook said. "Throughout the day there'll be a thousand people at least, and basically everybody says "It looks amazing,' and 'Great job.' It's constant, positive feedback, but to make sure I have to take a step back and look. I pray all the time while I'm painting, so it's a spiritual thing, but I also like to take a step back."

Holbrook has worked on murals in Steubenville several times over the past three years, painting “Stop the Gun Violence” in the entryway of the North End Market (2023) “Corps of Discovery: Lewis & Clark” on the side of the Community Action Council in 2024 and rehabilitated the Tuskegee Airmen Mural in 2025, which has since been demolished. He also touched up the "Female Seminary" mural on Market Street a few weeks ago.

Holbrook said his art "merges realism with the abstract." His current project features a pensive Dr. King set against the backdrop of the capitol building with a watchful crowd gathered on the mall along with olive branches, a sunburst and the legend, "Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere," taken from a letter he wrote while imprisoned in Birmingham, Ala., for leading a peaceful protest against segregation.

He sees it as a puzzle: While some muralists like to use grids or projectors to get things in perspective, "I don't do either, so it makes the initial stage (critical), getting the proportions right. I like that part of it. I could just use a projector, but it takes the soul out of it."

He said the MLK mural is already about 60 percent complete, so he should be done next week.

"I want to make things that are really hopeful, that people can be inspired by," he said. "That's my goal. The world is always going to have different issues, but I try to bring people together."

Committee members, meanwhile, said they appreciate the enthusiastic response they've had from the community, including the members of Post 274.

"They were so excited and agreeable to this project," member Sharon Kirtdoll said. "If they hadn't been so enthusiastic, I don't know if it would have gone any further."

In addition to the mural, Post 274 also gave the committee the go-ahead to beautify some green spaces--something they plan to do throughout the North End. They're also planning another mural in the 300 block of N. 7th Street, which in 2025 council redesignated as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The organization also will be adding additional street signs reflecting the name change.