Mural by UC grad honors U.S. military history

UC grad paints mural featuring student veteran at Woodlawn Community Center

Local 12 highlighted a new mural by a University of Cincinnati graduate and artist celebrating U.S. military history.

The Woodlawn Community Center dedicated the mural in its lobby. The center is also a recruiting and training center for the U.S. Army National Guard.

Artist Brandon Hawkins painted the mural, which pays tribute to different facets of U.S. military history, including the 65th Infantry Regiment composed of Puerto Rican soldiers; the Tuskegee Airmen and the Montford Point Marines.

The mural also features UC graduate and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Emily Almazan-Lacy.

Hawkins graduated with a bachelor's degree in Africana studies in UC's College of Arts and Sciences.

Watch the Local 12 report.

Featured image at top: UC graduate Brandon Hawkins painted a new mural at the Woodlawn Community Center. Photo/Michael Miller 

Two people stand in front of a mural featuring scenes from the U.S. military.

UC graduates Brandon Hawkins, left, and U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Emily Almazan-Lacy stand in front of Hawkins' new mural featuring a likeness of her, far right, at the Woodlawn Community Center. Photo/Michael Miller

Related Stories

3

Bringing deadly ‘Sweeney Todd’ to life

April 17, 2026

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” not only stars the titular “demon” barber, but is famously a monster of a show. It’s such a grand team lift across its dozens of cast members, special effects and a multistory set that most productions cut it down to a small-scale adaptation. But the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music is stepping up to the challenge of putting on a full-scale performance of the classic, gory tale. Debuting on Broadway in 1979, the show is almost 50 years old, with countless revivals and adaptations of the vengeful barber Sweeney Todd and his co-conspirator, pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett. CCM’s performance, with a double cast and three-story set, is just as huge and bloody as the original.