DONATE TODAY to help restore this beautiful mural!
Ursula Roma passed away earlier this year, Ursula was a long-time Northside resident and well-known artist throughout Cincinnati. A champion of equal rights for all of peoples, she carried out her passion for equal rights thru her murals, graphic arts, and metal work many accomplishment.
In 1995, the Northside Community Council secured funding and permission to paint a mural on the back side of Liberty Exhibition Hall (also known as the Deaf Club Building), Ursula was hired for the commission. This historic building is located on Spring Grove Ave., and the mural is located on the back wall.
This large-scale mural has needed restoration for some time now, and upon Ursula’s passing, it is time to renew this public artwork that has for decades welcomed all to our beloved Northside community when crossing the Ludlow Viaduct.
Jackie Gruer, Chuck Brown and Karen Doepke, long-time Northside volunteers who have decades of volunteering to make Northside the special place that it is, got together and did what they have done for years, initiated a call for action. They enlisted NEST, Northside’s nonprofit community development corporation, as the fiscal sponsor for collecting the dollars needed for the mural restoration, and NEST kindly produced a fundraising flyer that is currently circulating in the ‘hood.
Upon hearing about their efforts, a very generous friend of the Northside Community Fund donated $8,000 toward the mural restoration. But the cost of the mural restoration far exceeds that amount, so let’s answer the “CALL TO ACTION” and make your donation today. With sincere respect for Ursula Roma and all that she (and Northside) stands for, now is the time to act.
Any size of donation is welcome! Per IRS guidelines, all donations are tax deductible and any donation of $250 or more will receive an acknowledgment letter for tax purposes.
Please follow this link for a video that Ursula made about this mural 10 years ago as part of a fundraising effort to restore the mural (the mural was not restored at that time).
Below is Ursula’s obituary, shared with permission from her family:
Ursula Roma, passed away on 3 May 2026, leaving an unforgettable legacy on the earth and leaving behind a community that will always yearn for her presence.
Ursula lived her authentic life as a passionate artist. She found potential in every object; she found beauty in all of nature’s details. See her work here: www.ursularomapaintings.com
In her career as a graphic designer, illustrator, and fine artist, Ursula created murals and metal work, postcards and posters, benches and billboards, signs and sculptures, including the mural on the back of the Liberty Exhibition Hall that greets travelers on the viaduct.
Ursula found inspiration and she gave hope in her many, many, flowers, and found object art. Her spirit was generous; her whimsy was genuine; her soul was gentle. Her humor was large, she was sharp—and silly!
She was born in Binghamton, NY and grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, on Choconut Valley Farm, where she grew to embrace nature. Ursula earned her BFA at SUNY Purchase, NY, and MFA at Hartford Art School at the University of Harford, CT.