By Rachael Krisher
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of The Magic Corner being located at 113 S. Fulton Street, and their 29th year in business, Dr. Kenneth Ladd, owner of The Magic Corner in Wauseon, is raising funds for a mural to be painted on the north side of his building which runs along Birch Street. Ladd says he has been “waiting a long time for this” and is excited to add this artistic feature to downtown Wauseon.
The mural is called “It’s Magic in Wauseon” and will feature Harry Houdini and his milk can escape, McDonald Birch and his vanishing pony, Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin and his blooming orange tree, Dr. Ladd performing a levitation act, and Dr. Ladd’s great-grandson apprentice, Aiden Franz-Donato, performing the Hindu basket. Ladd says he wanted to create something that would make people “stop and look” while they are driving or walking around downtown.
The mural will be painted by www.muralvista.net, a professional mural painting group. Ladd says he had all these ideas for his mural and gave them to the artists and they created the design for the mural. The mural will take 200 cans of spray paint and painting is set to begin in April or May, depending on weather, and will be completed by Wauseon’s annual Homecoming event this summer.
The mural will be 36’ x 50’ in size and will also have special effects along the top of the mural that will only show up at nighttime. Ladd says this will be the “largest magic mural in the state” and once it is completed it will be protected by the Ohio Arts Council and can never be altered or removed.
Ladd says the cost for the mural is $16,000 and he has raised $11,000 so far. Ladd says donations can be made at F&M Bank to the 113 Mural Project, through venmo @muralproject, and through Ladd’s gofundme.com fundraising page.
If he is able to raise enough money, Ladd would also like to have the world’s largest magic wand made to add as a feature next to the mural. Ladd says here
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