Hartford: A city of murals
TAKE YOURSELF ON A CITYWIDE SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF OUTDOOR ARTWORK
Hartford is a city of murals. Dozens of outdoor artworks lend color and culture to the Capitol City, and more are on the way.
RiseUP, a nonprofit youth mentoring program that has created several murals in the city, is creating three more in October, as part of a mental health awareness initiative. They will be painted at Dunkin’ Donuts Park on Oct. 10 by Lindaluz Carrillo, Corey Pane and Deka Henry. Then they will be purchased by mental health organizations and installed at those places.
Hartford Decide$ Paint the City project, which installed eight murals in 2018, each in a different neighborhood, also has more planned. “We still have two murals that are completed but have not been installed,” said Cynthia Bulaong of Paint the City. Those are murals by Humberto CastroCruz, to be installed at Burns Elementary School, 195 Putnam St. in the Frog Hollow area; and by Georges Annan-Kingsley, to be installed at West Middle School, 44 Niles St., in the Asylum Hill area.
There’s no guarantee murals will last forever. Artists who create them hope they are leaving a permanent legacy. However, being outdoor art, the materials can be degraded by the elements. Some are inadvertently damaged during building renovations. Sometimes they are vandalized and fixing the damage is difficult.
Also, they are painted on surfaces that are often privately owned, so they can be painted over at any time at the discretion of owners or the community. This happened to the spectacular RiseUP artwork that once graced the Goodyear building on Market Street.
“Corporate painted over the mural because of corporate directives to have everything on-brand,” said Conway. “It only exists in memory now.”
We’ve compiled a list of many of Hartford’s outdoor murals. Use the list as a citywide road trip to find public art and appreciate it while it remains. Follow @ hartfordcourant on Instagram and share a selfie with each mural you visit and tag us so we can follow along with you.
Black Lives Matter I
The monumental “Black Lives Matter” mural, unveiled Downtown in June, is painted on the pavement on Trinity Street from the Memorial Arch to Elm Street. LaShawn Robinson and Levi Kardulis led the artist team. The artists, in order of their letters, are LaShawn Robinson, Jhiyear Thompson, Arieanna Colon, Evelyn Whitley, Linda Robinson, Candace Donaldson, Jasleni Briton, Che LaMora, Latoya Delaire, Natalie Langlaise, Kayla “Chélu” Farrell, Jason Farquharson, Anne Gogh, Andre Rochester, Sacha Kelly and Fiyabomb.
Black Lives Matter II
The Swift Factory, at 60 Love Lane in the North End, has a Black Lives Matter mural painted on four walls. It was created by RiseUP-affiliated artists Julie Bergeron, Alex Ranniello, Lindaluz Carrillo and John Massey, and depicts national Civil Rights figures such as John Lewis and local luminaries including “Brother Carl” Hardrick.
Changemakers I
As part of Hartford Public Library’s “Changemakers” youth program, murals were painted by mentors Lindaluz
Carrillo and Mina Elise, and the girls in the program. The mural at Art Box, 777 Park St., in Frog Hollow, referenced city “Changemakers” John B. Stewart, Trude Mero, Lucy Summers, Bobby Knight, Maria Sanchez, Ann Plato, Juan Fuentes, Jackie McLean, Dr. Evans Daniels, Mildred Torres and Olga Mele,
Changemakers II
The second “Changemakers” mural was painted at Melanin, a beauty parlor at 1330 Albany Ave. in the Upper Albany area, by Lindaluz Carrillo and Mina Elise and the girls in the program. Apropos of its beauty-shop setting, it shows a head of curly hair, which morphs into a planted field, with the words “Our roots bring us together.”
Sunflowers and sunshine
Corey Pane’s “Daydream Amid The Flowers” is at Willie Ware Center, 679 Windsor St. in the Clay Arsenal area. The mural shows a young woman, sunflowers, bees, a blue sky and a few quirky items, like a Grateful Dead album. Pane said the mural is about “imagination and setting your mind free.” It is a Paint the City project.
Heaven Skate Park
Heaven Skate Park is heaven, to those who love public art with themes of social and racial justice. The Downtown skate mecca, across the street from Dunkin Donuts Park, is filled with colorful graffiti and murals. The most beloved tend to not get painted over, such as Corey Pane’s tribute to rapper Nipsey Hussle and Kim Hinds’ homage to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
What’s the buzz?
Nine concrete blocks, which keep cars off of Ann Uccello and Allyn streets downtown, are painted with bees and flowers by Julie Bergeron, to lure customers to the outdoor restaurant seating. One bee has a Hartford Yard Goats cap on. Photograph it
The Nipsey Hussle mural at Heaven Skate Park in Hartford.
Mural at 427 Church Street in Hartford.
A 28-foot high mural painted by artist Sarah Warden is seen on the side of Achievement First Hartford Academy Inc.
Brooklyn-based artist Yuliya Puhach’s paintings at the McKinney Shelter, at 34 Huyshope Ave. and put it on social media get a discount at restaurants. It was a RiseUP project.
Smile big
A mural of a grinning boy, with a tiny paper hat perched precariously on his head and his thumbs up, is at the Metzner Center at 680 Franklin Ave. in the South End. Artist Damien Mitchell’s goal was just to create joy, “something positive for the neighborhood, something cheerful where children frequent.” It is a Paint the City project.
Beloved community
On the side of Northend Church of Christ, 687 Albany Ave. in the North End, is a mural of Martin Luther King Jr., with his quote “The beloved community is the framework for the future.” The mural was designed by University of Hartford art students, working with the Connecticut Center for Nonviolence.
A splash of color
John Paul Ogrodnick’s loosey-goosey collection of colorful abstract shapes adorn a wall at Kennelly School at 180 White St., in the South West / Behind the Rocks area. Ogrodnick said he had no set plan when starting it. “I create them totally in the moment. It’s like looking at clouds. You see images in it.” It is a Paint the City project.
¡Viva Roberto!
A mural in honor of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente, a beloved figure in the Puerto Rican community, is in Colt Park in the Sheldon Charter Oak area, on the side of the snack shack. The RiseUP mural, designed by Corey Pane and painted
Mural at 1 Talcott Street in Hartford. with local volunteers, resembles Clemente’s 1968 Topps baseball card.
’Attack problems’
On the other side of the Colt Park snack shack is another RiseUP mural created by Corey Pane and painted with local volunteers in conjunction with Connecticut Center for Nonviolence. The theme is “Attack Problems, Not People,” and depicts hands weeding out a garden where flowers are damaged by broken glass.
Growing Things
At 23 Park St., in the South Green neighborhood, where there was a community garden, Julie Bergeron worked with a bunch of young artists to create a food design, with flowers, plants, stores, tables. “I wanted to show people selling fruits and vegetables, moving from the farms, how it gets to people’s tables,” Bergeron said.
Hartford heroes
Not to be confused with the Changemakers murals, which also focus on Hartford heroes, Nicole Johnson’s mural at Adult Education Building at 110 Washington St. in the SoDo area features historical figures such as Ann Uccello, Bishop Raúl González, Carrie Saxon Perry, Charles “Butch” Lewis and Willie Pep. It is a Paint the City project.
Roar of the beast
The building at 89 Arch St., Downtown, is where Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ used to be before that restaurant moved to Front Street. Later, Blind Pig Pizza moved in. But the spirit of the bear has never left, thanks to Tao LaBossiere, who painted the mighty brown beast on the wall facing Columbus Boulevard.
Love and power
Deka Henry’s mosaic artwork at 1 Talcott St., on the corner of Main Street in the Downtown area, shows a raised fist surrounded by “From Hartford, With Love.” Henry said the mural “was inspired by the strength and unity displayed in Hartford during the 2020 protests and much of the world.” It is a RiseUP project.
Give peace a chance
Nick Frasco’s mural at Breakthrough II Elementary School at 395 Lyme St., in the Blue Hills area, shows two smiling children holding butterflies, wearing “Give peace a chance” shirts, against a blue and purple pixilated background. Those who want to see it must drive around to the back of the school. It is a Paint the City project.
Curses being broken
John Massey created “The World is Yours” at 427 Church St., in the Downtown area. The RiseUP mural shows a young woman wearing a mortarboard, a globe in the background, like a halo. “Showing a person of color graduating from college represents so many generational curses being broken,” Massey said.
Water magic
Adam Niklewicz’s mural, painted on the side of a deconsecrated synagogue at 215 Pearl St., in the Downtown area, is barely visible when the wall is dry. When wet, however, the image pops out, of the Charter Oak tree, inspired by the 1857 painting by Charles DeWolf Brownell that is owned by Wadsworth Atheneum.
Musical man
Edwin Sepulveda painted an indigenous man playing a wind instrument, surrounded by multicolored swirls, near the front door of Parker Memorial Community Center at 2621 Main St. in the North East area. “Music is the link between cultures, that sharing of knowledge through music,” Sepulveda said. It is a Paint the City project.
Flowers and stars
“The Universe is on the Side of
Justice” is another mural created with the Connecticut Center for Nonviolence, with an MLK theme. Tao LaBossiere’s vivid midnight blue artwork, created with members of the community, is on the back wall of 224 EcoSpace at 224 Farmington Ave. in the Asylum Hill area.
Guardian angels
McKinney, a men’s homeless shelter in a former firehouse at 34 Huyshope Ave. in the Sheldon / Charter Oak Neighborhood, is graced with two murals, of beautiful red-haired guardian angels. Artist Yuliya Puhach said the women “will protect the tenants from troubles and will give them positive energy.” It is a Paint the City project.
Cirque du Soleil
Corey Pane created a Cirque du Soleil mural at 98 State St. Downtown in conjunction with the last time Cirque du Soleil performed in the city, and as an homage to Mexican history and culture in Hartford. It depicts four mysterious figures: one in lace, one inside a butterfly, one in flight and one in a fish costume.
Women power
Julie Bergeron created a RiseUP mural, “Unlimiting Opportunities,” outside the YWCA at 135 Broad St., in the Asylum Hill area. The blue-toned artwork shows five women, reflecting the YWCA’s mission of “eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.”
King of jazz
Hartford’s jazz great Jackie McLean is depicted in a Paint the City mural by Sara Warda at Achievement First school, 305 Greenfield St. in the Upper Albany area. In “Avenue Rhythm,” Warda depicted the saxophonist as a young man. “I wanted that passion, that young vibe,” Warda said. “I thought it might inspire other youth.”
Welcome home
At Scott’s Jamaican Bakery, at 1344 Albany Ave. in the North End, is “Welcome Home,” by Tao LaBossiere, Camacho, Corey Pane, Samantha Jenkins,
Che’ LaMora, Dwight Teal, Jr., Jackie Allen-Doucot and Joy Monroe. The images answer the question, “What does the
North End mean to you?” LaBossiere said.
Good morning
Alex Ranniello created “Hartford Wakes as One,” at 150 Kinsley St., Downtown. The work, made with RiseUP, shows a sunburst over a geometrical mosaic pattern. “With all the racial injustice, and stress and anxiety in this country amidst COVID, I felt that this mural was an opportunity to show solidarity,” Ranniello said.