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RICHMOND - It's no longer just a plain red wall.

Pennsylvania artists Shelly Koss and Stephanie Lang saw to that when they began a project on one side of the Crew House Museum on Main Street - a project that generated much interest among passers-by traveling state Route 43 through the village in addition to townspeople themselves who frequently stopped by to monitor and marvel.

The sisters have painted a mural depicting Main Street, Richmond, around 1910 or slightly earlier in addition to village vignettes that include the still-standing Richmond Hotel, the no-more Richmond College and the late Evelyn "Eppie" Crew, the last Crew family member to live in the 1826 homestead turned museum that's operated today by the Richmond Community Historical Society.

Funding for the project came courtesy of the Charles M. and Thelma M. Pugliese Charitable Foundation. In its 10-year history, the foundation has awarded $4.1 million to a host of projects.

Foundation secretary H. Lee Kinney, a Richmond native himself, said he had had conversations in recent years with historical society members about the possibility of a mural. It was a recurring topic, he said, about how suited the bare wall was for something historic, welcoming and inviting to the eye.

"It was the perfect wall for the mural to brighten that side of the building," said Kinney, who noted the foundation had some excess funds this year to make a grant award available for such a project to move from the talk-about-it to do-it stage.

And ironically, Kinney had visited a childhood friend and former Richmond resident during a summer trip to South Carolina when inspiration for a mural subject surfaced.

Kinney explained he was visiting John Irvine Jr. and his wife, Jill, when they happened to look at some old photos and a 1910 postcard in particular of Richmond. Irvine is the grandson of the late John Hobson, who lived to be 101 and resided on Main Street across from the Crew House museum, Kinney said.

Hobson's house and many others on that side of Main Street no longer exist, a fact reacknowledged as Kinney looked at Hobson family memorabilia. He was especially impressed by the postcard that showed what homes were once there, lining the street on which an omnibus was making its way from Richmond to Steubenville.

Kinney would later share them with Phil and Sandy Judy of the historical society, and plans would begin to unfold for the mural from there.

The postcard scene became the focal point for the mural, which is set below three village vignettes.

One is the old Richmond College formerly located at the Richmond park behind the former Richmond Elementary School. It's an area many townspeople still refer to as the college campus grounds. John Hobson is in the picture.

Another vignette is a portrait of Crew, who was born in 1905 and died in 1972. Kinney said while her expression looks stern, her face softens a bit the closer you get to the mural. "It (her expression) actually changes the closer you get to the mural," he said of the observation made by Jim Higgins, a former president of the historical society.

Then there's the old Richmond hotel, which Kinney and family members restored and owned for 15 years. It once housed Kinney's Kones, an ice cream business. Kinney said the people scene on the mural shows his mother, Mildred "Mid" Kinney, behind the counter while a group of customers enjoy a cool treat at a picnic table. The customers are directors of what once was UniBank, which Kinney was affiliated with along with Pugliese.

The idea came from a picture when the UniBank directors stopped by en route to an onsite visit for a loan request.

One element of the mural that has drawn much comment, perhaps as much as the scenes themselves, is the stone wall painted at the base, which gives a three-dimensional feel to the overall project.

Kinney credited Higgins with the idea for that.

With the photos, postcard and suggestion to draw from, the sisters sketched out the framing idea and went to work in mid-September on the project.

The two studied art at Seton Hill University. Lang lives in Belle Vernon; Koss in Claysville. Koss, the owner of Koss Create and Paint, said she has done many indoor murals but the Richmond undertaking constitutes a first.

"This is our first outdoor mural, but we've been doing indoor murals for three to four years," Koss said.

"This is something special given it's the first outdoor one," she added of the project that's 32-feet wide, its highest point being 20 feet.

Lang said many people stopped by during the process to pay compliments, offer encouragement and to reminisce.

"Everybody loves it, and they say how nice it looks. Some people grew up here and remember the way the street looked," Lang said.

"It's good to get feedback from people," Koss added.

The two finished the mural earlier this month, with one of the final elements of it being two scrolls, one on each side of the mural that combines to welcome viewers to Richmond, Ohio.

"It's been a good experience for us, a good project," Koss said.

Along with autographing the mural, the two also elected to include Scripture from the New Testament, Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"We'll put a little verse on there. We're both Christians," Koss said the day work was wrapping up.

Sandy Judy said the mural has generated a lot of feedback. "People were stopping to look at it and talk to the girls," she said. "It's a good thing for Richmond. It's a plus," Judy added, noting a dedication ceremony will be scheduled.

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)