Oxford welcomes artwork and creativity with new mural

In the spring of 2026, a new red hawk will be welcomed into Oxford – but not a Miami University RedHawk. This “larger than life” red-tailed hawk will be seen in a new mural on the Uptown parking garage on Walnut Street. However, the red-tailed hawk is not the main focus of the artwork.

“This mural is about Oxford,” artist Mathew Sharum wrote in an email to The Miami Student. “The workaround is that we have a surreal nature scene, so a larger-than-life red-tailed hawk (as a nod to the Miami RedHawks) is not unusual. As the hawk is part of the waterfall scene, the university is a part of Oxford.”

In the process of creating his design, Sharum said he researched Oxford and the amenities of the town. While looking at the parking garage, he noticed the sky coming through the top window and thought of adding a hole in the wall where you could see the sky. He then thought to add waterfalls to match the length of the mural and play around with the floor crumbling away. He ultimately chose to challenge himself and create a three-dimensional painting on the corner of the parking garage.

“To me, public art should stop the viewer in their tracks and say ‘Wow!’” Sharum wrote, “[and] make them reconsider what it is they are seeing. I’ve done a few murals that are only to be viewed from one angle before, but never on the corner of a building like this one. I liked the challenge.”

The Oxford Public Art Commission put out a request for an artist to create a new mural in May. After reviewing submissions, the commission chose Sharum for his innovative design.

“I was really excited about the three-dimensional aspect of the mural,” Amber Franklin, chair of the Public Arts Commission, said. “I thought that it really did a nice juxtaposition between nature and man-made structure.”

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The new mural and other public artworks are a part of the Oxford Comprehensive Plan – a robust list of goals for the city to follow. This list was created with public input in 2023, and more public art is on the list.

“There's been a directive to do more creativity and do more public art in the City of Oxford,” said assistant city manager Jessica Greene.

However, with murals, there are limitations. The city chose the parking garage Uptown because it’s city-owned property, visible to the public and at a substantial height, according to Franklin.

“When [the city was] looking at doing more art, we looked all around town,” Greene said. “We identified where the city controls the property. What's visible to the public?”

The artwork will be a welcomed addition to the Oxford and Miami communities, junior studio art major Piper Duda said.

“It's always a good thing to bring more public art, just into a community in general,” Duda said. “[Murals] just make that whole part of the city look more inviting to be in. [I am] excited the new mural is going in.”

mulforsj@miamioh.edu