Pictured is Sara Aiello with husband Jody Aiello. Also an artist, he has been helping her with the Warren mural; and for good reason – Sara is four months postpartum from welcoming their first child into their family.

Sara Aiello, a Titusville graduate class of 2005 may not be a Warren native, but she sure is pouring her heart into the town that she has called home for 15 years.

Born and raised in Titusville, Aiello finds inspiration in nature and connection with people. She received her bachelor’s degree in K-12 Art Education from Edinboro University, and her master’s degree in Education for Differentiated Learners from Wilkes University. An art educator for 17 years, she began her teaching career at Tidioute Community Charter School and, after marrying her husband, Jody Aiello from Kane, she taught in the Kane School District for seven years.

They love the area for the outdoor recreation and the fine arts scene. Although Aiello loved the schools in which she taught, ultimately she left the school district to pursue art independently. Not only with art, but music as well. She and her husband along with local friends Eric Morelli and Nate Blick are in a band called Company Townes, and toured with Dwight Yoakam. They opened for Marty Stuart a year ago and are part of the Roots Rising series that is currently underway at Struthers Library Theater.

During the past few years, she has been teaching lessons for all ages at her private studio, as well as group classes at local businesses that host creative events. Known for leaving her students with the knowledge and history of many art forms, Sara practices what she teaches, instilling confidence in many unique fine art projects.

Aiello became involved with commission work in watercolor paintings of any subject, though, primarily portraits of pets and people. Aiello said that she got into mural work because she always enjoyed painting large portraits. In fact, Tidioute Community Charter School has some of her murals. In recent years, she has thrived in small and large scale public murals. Before putting time in for the mural in Warren, Aiello completed one for the Brookville YMCA as well as the “Welcome to Titusville, PA,” mural. She also has public works in Kane, James City and Jamestown.

It is the educator in her that likes to involve school students to participate in the ideas for her mural work. The images, chosen by the community, illustrate the heritage of Warren. A process that took about six months, Aiello said that Joe McClellan was the liaison between the school and the city. He worked with the school district to have teachers ask elementary students what they felt was important about Warren County. Narrowing down from a list of nearly 50 different subjects that students felt were important about Warren County, Aiello said she enjoyed looking through many boxes of their drawings. Aiello said that involving children for a community project makes it more about the city and it’s for the city as well.

“It builds community and makes everybody feel like they’re a part of it.”

The city of Warren knew exactly what they wanted and Aiello’s ability to build community around the project drew them to her for the art mural work.

“If it’s building community, it’s what it’s all about.” Aiello continued, “We want people to look at this and talk about history, asking, ‘Who is that and why?’ ‘What does that mean about Warren?'”

This particular project has brought more knowledge of the area and more members of the community to her attention. Glad for the community building that has taken place, Aiello is also eager to share with her new followers how the community works together in Warren. Her social media has exploded from 1,200 followers just two weeks ago to 79,000. Aiello said that while that is a good thing, it’s also wild because with that, comes a lot of eyes and critique.

Sharing your art can be a vulnerable experience where criticism flies. Filtering out the bad comments is difficult but then she has to remind herself that the person just doesn’t get it and then she has to forget it and move on. She remarked, “Look at the outpouring of positivity and what a mural does. It beautifies your town. It gets people to come back to your town. Those that have moved away are excited to come see it.”

Aiello said that luckily, this is a history-based project and that she has the kids from the community to back her up.

All in all, the entire project to date has taken nine months. One might say that this project was her baby. But actually, quite literally, her best work is her baby.

Aiello is four months postpartum, and shared how she worked on three murals throughout her pregnancy, and looking back on the days of dealing with nausea in the heat of last summer during the Titusville mural, was nothing compared to what postpartum does to a woman’s physical stamina. Active in outdoor mountain biking races and half marathons, Aiello was used to working 12 hour days. Working on this just four months postpartum has been a challenge with balancing a newborn’s needs and putting in the time needed to complete the project. “I feel like it’s important and I need to do it.”

Currently taking commission work orders while on maternity leave, classes are on hold while Aiello finishes this piece. When the mural is complete, Aiello will put the paint brush down in order to embrace the tender moments of early motherhood, appreciating the greatest most beautiful masterpiece of her life: her newborn.

For more information on the works of artist Aiello, visit her website at

https://www.saraaiello.com