Submitted photo / Jon Paul Robles

YOUNGSTOWN — A reception took place earlier this week at the Happy Place Sanctuary urban garden on Firnley Avenue between Midlothian Boulevard and Indianola Avenue on the South Side of Youngstown to celebrate the completion of a mural.

The mural was painted by two recent Youngstown State University art graduates, Juan Marin and Sarah Sharber, and recent Chaney High School graduate Lil Snider, a member of the Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past.

YSU art professor Dragana Crnjak oversaw the project and it was sponsored by Sojourn to the Past.

The Happy Place Sanctuary was created by Darla Ballinger and includes fountains, walkways, trees and flowers.

The mural was painted on a wooden fence that lines the sanctuary.

The fence was paid for with a grant, but it did not include the mural, which is why Penny Wells, executive director of Mahoning Valley Sojourn to the Past, decided to sponsor it.

The mural reads “Let the beauty we love be what we do.”

In photo above, from left, are Marc Ellis, Simeon Booker Award for Courage 2026 recipient, Crnjak, Wells, Sharber, Ballinger and Marin. Snider is missing from the photo.