Beth Sage painted this mural on the LHS Heritage Archives building as a tribute to Lakeside history. (Submitted photo)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

Beth Sage stands next to her in-progress mural on the Heritage Archives building in Lakeside. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

When the Lakeside Heritage Society (LHS) wanted to enhance the outside of its Heritage Archives building, they contracted with one of the state’s most beloved and prolific muralists, Beth Sage of Sagebrush Artistry. Sage has painted hundreds of murals across the state, and the LHS mural is her third at Lakeside.

“We moved into the building in 2021 and decided the back wall was rather dull,” said LHS Board President Kathy Venema. “We thought a mural could be a contribution to the community. The original idea came from a Lakeside postcard.”

The finished mural incorporates the history of Lakeside with portraits of today. The letters in “LAKESIDE” are filled with elements of life in the community, such as a painting of a Lyman boat and another of a bicycle, which is still a common mode of transportation along the cottage streets.

The project was funded by longtime Lakesider Joanne Hackett, who wanted to do something to highlight the history of Lakeside. Hackett offered design ideas that Sage incorporated into the project. Sage said that everyone involved emailed artistic concepts back and forth until they solidified a design.

“I always say, ‘solidify, but it will be different,’ because something always inspires me while I work,” Sage said. “For example, a little girl walked by and said she loves the Black-eyed Susans at Lakeside, so I added those.”

Several homes have been built upon cliffs overlooking Lake Erie in Lakeside. Sage painted the cliffs into the mural, but she depicted them as they looked in the 1950s, before development, when they were natural and bare.

“An older lady came up to me and said she used to run along those cliffs as a child,” Sage said. “So she remembered them this way.”

Beth Sage takes a photo of Kim Vinczi of Elyria, left, and Nicole Packo of Rocky River at the mural Sage painted in Lakeside. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Melissa Ladd, the archivist and operating manager of the Heritage Archives building, is thrilled with Sage’s mural.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Ladd said. “Beth created an image that depicts what everyone loves about Lakeside.”

Sage painted her very first mural as a senior project at St. Joseph High School in Fremont in 1980. The mural, which was painted on a board that hung on a wall at the school for years, was eventually removed during a remodeling project. The school gave it back to her.

“I turned part of it into a drafting table, and I cut the other part into pieces and gave them as gifts to my family, so they would have a piece of my first mural,” she said.

In addition to the LHS mural, Sage also painted murals at the Rhein Center in Lakeside and along a shopping district wall, right around the corner from the LHS mural. The focal point of that mural is a set of mayfly wings, creating a unique photo op for visitors. The wings are part of a mural series called Wings of Hope that honor Leah Johnson. Johnson, who is the daughter of Sage’s cousin, died of cancer at the age of 13.

“When she died, I wanted to do something. She was always so hopeful,” Sage said. “Every time I paint wings, I number them and paint an ‘LJ’ in it.”

Sage has painted murals in over 150 schools and countless other sites. Now, her work is highlighting the work of LHS, which was founded in 1968 to preserve and promote the history of Lakeside, the Marblehead Peninsula and the Chautauqua movement. For more information, visit www.lakesideheritagesociety.org.