For some artists, it's the process that makes the piece. That is the case for Doylestown native Nathan DiStefano, who is leaving his mark on the walls of the newly renovated Central Bucks Family Y.

The 12-foot long canvas could have been painted in DiStefano's Doylestown studio on South Clinton Street.

Instead, DiStefano chose to set up in the lobby of the health and recreation center that straddles the border of Doylestown borough and township on Lower State Road. During its creation, the mural rested on two easels just below its final resting place.

DiStefano began painting during the Y's Grand New Beginnings open house on Nov. 13 and continued during the following days.

"Each day it changes a little bit more," said Y representative Cory Schroeder. "We're all looking towards the end result. It encompasses the Y as the center of the community."

Creating it in the midst of the community reinforces the effect.

This is the fourth time DiStefano has created his art in front of an audience.

"It brings a whole environment into the piece," the artist said. "The people who come up, they help create it. It's their energy."

Who better to capture that energy than DiStefano, who was a member of Y-Indian Guides and attended the Y camp as a child, according to Schroeder.

Central Bucks Y President and CEO Eugene Smith witnessed Nathan creating for an audience at a Doylestown Hospital event and then invited him to paint a mural for the Y.

"Gene was so impressed with Nathan's work at the Balance Center that he wanted Nathan to create the same energy in our lobby," Schroeder said.

DiStefano was pleased with the opportunity to celebrate "his" Y. Although he now lives in Lambertville, N.J., he grew up in Doylestown and attended high school just down the road at Central Bucks West.

He completed his undergraduate education at Bloomsburg University and earned a master of fine arts at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Still, the young artist remains unassuming. As he works on the Y's mural, he provides each person who approaches his focus and attention. He explains his unfinished piece without pretense.

On the left side of the canvas, bright strokes of oil paint depict Doylestown Borough with its charming streetscape. On the right side, the park and Doylestown Township take shape amid the calm of a green canopy.

In the middle of the canvas, the two entities meld together into the active vitality of the Y. The pool, with its slide, and the fitness center radiate motion before calming into a depiction of the lobby.

Just as the Y connects the two communities, the "curves and the motion come together" in his mural, DiStefano said.

He kept the original color of the canvas to blend with the wall color where it will hang, "so the marks seem to float on the canvas. My paintings are large because I want you to feel like you're a part of the mark of the paint."

A man sitting on the couch in the lobby while DiStefano works does, in fact, become a part of the work, depicted right in the middle of the mural. He becomes a part of the conversation going on in the piece.

"When someone approaches," said DiStefano, "the viewer can add their own conversation to it, as well."

Visit www.nathandistefanoart.com to contact Nathan DiStefano.