Westerville 250th Murals - Good Citizens - Artist Carly Mitchell
Westerville’s Tradition of Service: Good Citizens
Good Citizens celebrates the people and organizations that have worked to make Westerville, and the wider world, a better place.
Created by Columbus-based artist Carly Mitchell, the mural reflects unity, resilience, compassion, and civic responsibility. Its bright colors and bold shapes are meant to turn an everyday wall into a joyful public landmark. A cardinal, both Ohio’s state bird and Otterbein University’s mascot, appears as a symbol of hope and remembrance, linking the community to the people who helped shape its legacy.
The mural presents citizenship not simply as a status, but as an ongoing practice. Through service, courage, kindness, and innovation, generations of Westerville residents have worked to improve the lives of others.
That tradition reaches deep into local history. Otterbein was among the early colleges to admit women and people of color. Before the Civil War, Westerville residents, including William Hanby, George Stoner, Thomas Alexander, and others, helped build a strong Underground Railroad network.
Dacia Shoemaker and William Fouse later worked to preserve the Hanby House as a historic Underground Railroad site. Fouse, who once lived in the house, was the first Black graduate of both Westerville Schools and Otterbein University.
That spirit of service continues today. Westerville Area Resource Ministry has provided food assistance, as well as economic and spiritual support, since 1972. Special Olympics Ohio, headquartered in Westerville, creates opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities through sports. Form5 supports people with limb differences by helping them interact more fully with their surroundings and future.
Mitchell’s work focuses on community, collaboration, and inclusion. Through Good Citizens, she honors both well-known changemakers and the many people whose everyday acts of care strengthen the community.
The mural is located at Westerville Area Resource Ministry, 150 Heatherdown Drive, on the south-facing wall along Heatherdown Drive.
As part of the Westerville 250 Mural Project, Good Citizens reminds viewers that a community’s legacy is built not only by major leaders or historic events, but also by people who choose, again and again, to help others.
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The Westerville News is a reader-supported publication by Gary Gardiner, a lifelong journalist who believes hyper-local reporting is the future of news. This publication focuses exclusively on Westerville—its local news, influence on Central Ohio, and how surrounding areas shape the community.
