(March 10, 2016) Berlin residents will get their first look at a new community mural on Friday during a presentation tied to the town’s monthly art stroll.
Berlin’s Arts & Entertainment Committee announced plans for the mural in October, and the Town Council and historic district commission both signed off on the project last year.
The idea for the mural, however, dates back a little longer.
“It’s been two years in the making from the standpoint of Berlin Arts & Entertainment,” Committee Member Robin Tomaselli said. “We looked at several locations that would have made some good sense for public art murals, but we were having a difficult time finding owners of the buildings that were interested in things either being attached to the wall or painted on the wall.”
Berlin Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells stepped in, offering the north-facing wall of the town’s visitor’s center on 14 South Main Street.
Then, Larnet St. Amant, executive director of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, mentioned she knew a muralist, John Donato, who had worked on a similar project with the students at Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Ocean Pines.
“That was the spark,” Tomaselli said. “We began talking to John, meeting with John, going out and seeing other projects he had worked on, and talking to schools and faculty and staff and students that had worked on his mural projects.”
Donato said he came to the project without a specific plan, other than “how can we get as many people as possible involved.”
“I was searching for, what are the potential partners in painting?” he said. “I was looking at all pieces, and when I heard all the stories and perspectives and goals, I just [began] piecing together a program with a couple of different ways things could be done.”
With an artist in place and the blessing of the town, the committee then started to look for a local school with which to work. Buckingham Elementary, located less than a mile away from the visitor’s center, on Main Street, seemed like an obvious choice.
“To us, it is the best representation of what Berlin is, which is a really diverse community of exceptional people,” Tomaselli said. “It was then that it went from just being a public piece of art to something – to me – that is way bigger than that. It’s art, but it’s community. It’s celebrating diversity and who were are.”
Work on the first of a planned five-panel series started in January in Melissa Reid’s art classroom at Buckingham.
Carol Rose, a director at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum in Berlin, spent several days with the students, providing an oral history of the town, complete with a slide show of photos dating back more than 100 years. Afterwards, the students helped develop a vision of Berlin with Reid, Donato, Rose and the A&E committee.
The actual painting of the mural lasted about 10 days and included the brushstrokes of dozens of students, as well as faculty, staff and parents.
“The painting was actually the quickest part of the cycle,” Donato said. “The preparation, and the planning and the idea stage was the real hard part of the process.
“I’m always amazed at what we come up with,” Donato added. “When you put that many heads together, you start seeing that anything is really possible. The only question is how big can it get? How great can it be? Then, I’m always amazed at what the outcome is.”
Tomaselli said she was thrilled with the final product, which includes the large wooden panel that will be attached to the visitor’s center, as well as several additional panels that will be permanently displayed at Buckingham.
“Mind-blowing is the word that I would use,” she said. “There would be no way to really articulate how touching the whole process has been unless you’ve been in here with these students day in and day out and watched their reactions to it. The excitement and their ability to translate their own creativity into the mural – it’s just so much bigger than a piece of art.
“When people actually are able to view it, they are going to be blown away,” Tomaselli continued. “I’ve looked at it several times – really hard – and every time I look at it, I see something new.”
Involving the students on both a conceptual and a hands-on level, Reid said, was “huge” for the children at Buckingham.
“First, they understand that you can make a career out of art and you can have artistic expression not just in an art room – it can extend out and have a lasting impact,” she said. “The other piece of this is they have a community that they live in, and they talk about that word, but now they’ve actually been able to add to that community.”
Reid said the students would be able to come back, decades from now, and see the work they did, still on display in a prominent place in the town.
“It’s also discussion of Berlin history,” she said. “It’s not just a beautiful painting – there’s a lot of information in there. That idea of the history of early Berlin all the way up until now – they can see all those pieces brought together.”
Buckingham will show off the students’ work during a ceremony for children and their parents on Friday at 2:15 p.m. It will include a performance by the school’s choir and remarks from Berlin Mayor Gee Williams.
The first panel of the mural will be revealed during a public unveiling at the visitor’s center at 5:30 p.m.
Donato will stay on as the artist for the next series of panels, and Tomaselli said the committee would look for different partners for each piece, likely including groups like Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services.
The committee will also look for different financial backers. A private donor funded the first panel, and Tomaselli said private donations, grants and sponsorships would help pay for future work.
For more information, visit www.berlinmainstreet.com/arts-entertainment, or search “Berlin MD Arts & Entertainment” on Facebook.
Berlin’s Arts & Entertainment Committee announced plans for the mural in October, and the Town Council and historic district commission both signed off on the project last year.
The idea for the mural, however, dates back a little longer.
“It’s been two years in the making from the standpoint of Berlin Arts & Entertainment,” Committee Member Robin Tomaselli said. “We looked at several locations that would have made some good sense for public art murals, but we were having a difficult time finding owners of the buildings that were interested in things either being attached to the wall or painted on the wall.”
Berlin Economic and Community Development Director Ivy Wells stepped in, offering the north-facing wall of the town’s visitor’s center on 14 South Main Street.
Then, Larnet St. Amant, executive director of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce, mentioned she knew a muralist, John Donato, who had worked on a similar project with the students at Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Ocean Pines.
“That was the spark,” Tomaselli said. “We began talking to John, meeting with John, going out and seeing other projects he had worked on, and talking to schools and faculty and staff and students that had worked on his mural projects.”
Donato said he came to the project without a specific plan, other than “how can we get as many people as possible involved.”
“I was searching for, what are the potential partners in painting?” he said. “I was looking at all pieces, and when I heard all the stories and perspectives and goals, I just [began] piecing together a program with a couple of different ways things could be done.”
With an artist in place and the blessing of the town, the committee then started to look for a local school with which to work. Buckingham Elementary, located less than a mile away from the visitor’s center, on Main Street, seemed like an obvious choice.
“To us, it is the best representation of what Berlin is, which is a really diverse community of exceptional people,” Tomaselli said. “It was then that it went from just being a public piece of art to something – to me – that is way bigger than that. It’s art, but it’s community. It’s celebrating diversity and who were are.”
Work on the first of a planned five-panel series started in January in Melissa Reid’s art classroom at Buckingham.
Carol Rose, a director at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum in Berlin, spent several days with the students, providing an oral history of the town, complete with a slide show of photos dating back more than 100 years. Afterwards, the students helped develop a vision of Berlin with Reid, Donato, Rose and the A&E committee.
The actual painting of the mural lasted about 10 days and included the brushstrokes of dozens of students, as well as faculty, staff and parents.
“The painting was actually the quickest part of the cycle,” Donato said. “The preparation, and the planning and the idea stage was the real hard part of the process.
“I’m always amazed at what we come up with,” Donato added. “When you put that many heads together, you start seeing that anything is really possible. The only question is how big can it get? How great can it be? Then, I’m always amazed at what the outcome is.”
Tomaselli said she was thrilled with the final product, which includes the large wooden panel that will be attached to the visitor’s center, as well as several additional panels that will be permanently displayed at Buckingham.
“Mind-blowing is the word that I would use,” she said. “There would be no way to really articulate how touching the whole process has been unless you’ve been in here with these students day in and day out and watched their reactions to it. The excitement and their ability to translate their own creativity into the mural – it’s just so much bigger than a piece of art.
“When people actually are able to view it, they are going to be blown away,” Tomaselli continued. “I’ve looked at it several times – really hard – and every time I look at it, I see something new.”
Involving the students on both a conceptual and a hands-on level, Reid said, was “huge” for the children at Buckingham.
“First, they understand that you can make a career out of art and you can have artistic expression not just in an art room – it can extend out and have a lasting impact,” she said. “The other piece of this is they have a community that they live in, and they talk about that word, but now they’ve actually been able to add to that community.”
Reid said the students would be able to come back, decades from now, and see the work they did, still on display in a prominent place in the town.
“It’s also discussion of Berlin history,” she said. “It’s not just a beautiful painting – there’s a lot of information in there. That idea of the history of early Berlin all the way up until now – they can see all those pieces brought together.”
Buckingham will show off the students’ work during a ceremony for children and their parents on Friday at 2:15 p.m. It will include a performance by the school’s choir and remarks from Berlin Mayor Gee Williams.
The first panel of the mural will be revealed during a public unveiling at the visitor’s center at 5:30 p.m.
Donato will stay on as the artist for the next series of panels, and Tomaselli said the committee would look for different partners for each piece, likely including groups like Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services.
The committee will also look for different financial backers. A private donor funded the first panel, and Tomaselli said private donations, grants and sponsorships would help pay for future work.
For more information, visit www.berlinmainstreet.com/arts-entertainment, or search “Berlin MD Arts & Entertainment” on Facebook.