Lifted Conducts Mural Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Artistic Response

Those taking a stroll down North Main Street have something new to look at thanks to Lifted owned Tim Scoma and Joe Rice.

Lifted, Jamestown's first cannabis dispensary, hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new mural on the exterior of its building at 320 North Main St, Thursday afternoon. Several months ago, a random graffiti ‘tag artist’ targeted the location of the current mural, much to the dismay of Tim Scoma, the store's chief executive officer.

"Yeah, we had some unwanted artwork tagged on our building," he said.

There are a lot of ways to respond to graffiti – and Scoma took the most creative avenue.

The mural's artist, Joe Rice of joericeart.com, said, "I presented Tim with five or six prototypes, and he chose the one you see on the building"

Rice explained that the mural concept draft underwent several revisions until Scoma finalized the painting, which was placed on the brick wall just outside the building’s main doors.

"One of the renditions had the space shuttle flying away, different color backgrounds, and a few other tweaks," he said. "I worked a lot of nights and weekends on this project."

While the painting is visually appealing, some believe it also benefits the city and other small businesses.

"Art and murals are important to our area; they help drive business and add character," said Daniel Heitzenrater, president and chief executive officer of the Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce."

While Scoma is proud of the new artwork that now adorns the outside of his building, he is even prouder of other things his dispensary has done to help benefit the area.

"We've donated more than $50,000 to support non-profits, people in need, and other projects," he said. "We're all part of the community, and we need to help each other out."

Scoman, Rice, various government representatives, and members of the CHQ Chamber cut the ceremonial ribbon at the end of the presentation.

Rice said, "I think public art is incredibly important now more than ever because. ...we're all looking at our phones, and we need a reason to look up and enjoy beautiful things. Public art is a way to engage with the community and brighten up the lives of the people that live here."

For more information, visit www.joericeart.com or