Little Valley Unveils New Downtown Mural Celebrating Community and Seasons
Little Valley Unveils New Downtown Mural Celebrating Community and Seasons
Grant-funded public art project transforms historic downtown building into a colorful tribute to Little Valley’s character and community pride
The Village of Little Valley recently transformed a building in its historic downtown into a work of art with the realization of its mural project. Using grant money sourced from Cattaraugus County, the Village’s Beautification Committee completed the last of its grant-supported projects with the launch of a mural representing the best the village has to offer, painted by Buffalo-based artist Jeremy Miklas. EllicottvilleNOW caught up with Anita Williams, President of the Beautification Committee, and the Village’s mayor, James Bowen, for comments.
“A lot of the inspiration came from the Beautification Committee,” Mayor Bowen said. “It highlights all of our features and the positive aspects of our Village and brings some pride to the community by highlighting the best of Little Valley.”
The mural, a representation of the four seasons of Little Valley, was painted by Miklas using both spray paint and exterior latex paint. After months of planning, it was completed earlier this spring.
“The mural was actually supposed to be done by November last year, but the artist that we chose had a medical emergency, so we had to scramble last minute in September to try and find someone who would come and do this for us,” said Beautification Committee member Anita Williams. “Jeremy answered and said he would be happy to help out our little town because he understood that we were under a time constraint with the mural project being financed through a grant. He went above and beyond to get down here and help us. Then the weather took a hold in November, and he didn’t have any days to paint until just about three weeks ago, and that is when he was able to come back and get it done. It looks beautiful!”
Williams explained that the Beautification Committee had applied for the Cattaraugus County Economic Revitalization Grant in 2025, first for funding to use towards new lights for the downtown. “We were able to secure the grant and do all kinds of really great things with the community and a lot of businesses and organizations and citizens, and our Village of Little Valley and our Town of Little Valley boards. Everyone supported us,” she said. “We started with a complete renovation of our aging gazebo. It was getting pretty run down, so we fixed it up,” she said, adding that the eight-member committee also purchased historical art banners for the downtown, added decorative lights to the lamp posts and gazebo, and about thirty new flags for America's 250th birthday this year.
“We did a lot of projects with the grant, but the last project, and perhaps the most noticeable, is our mural that we put downtown on the Vail Hardware store building right in the middle of Little Valley,” Williams explained. “We found an amazing artist, Jeremy Miklas, out of Buffalo; he’s done a beautiful job with his “postcard to Little Valley” - it kind of represents a lot of different aspects of our community, our culture, and what there is to do throughout the different seasons of the year. He’s been amazing for us.”
Weather played a factor in the completion of the mural project. “I think he probably finished it in about ten days,” she said. “He really worked very quickly on it when he was able to get down here. We had sent him different pictures that represent Little Valley, and he came up with a concept from the things we had sent him and then showed it to us, sketched it on the wall, and started painting. He would come down whenever he had a nice day, but he would paint quite a bit in one day. When spring finally arrived, I think it took him only four days to finish once the weather broke for him.”
Williams highlighted that an official ribbon cutting ceremony is in the works for Tuesday, May 26th. “We hope that the community will come and join us. The Beautification Committee is very proud to be able to facilitate this, and we just hope that everybody enjoys it, and all the things that we’ve been able to accomplish in the last year.”
Join the Village of Little Valley for the official ribbon cutting ceremony at the new mural outside of Vail Hardware located at 104 Main Street on Tuesday, May 26th at 6:00pm. Meet the artist, Jeremy Miklas, and members of the Beautification Committee. For additional information, contact the Village of Little Valley’s Beautification Committee at 716-938-9151. For information on artist Jeremy Miklas, check out his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jeremy.miklas or visit his website at www.vividbuffalo.com.