Mural grants support renovations

WINSTED — The American Mural Project recently received grants from the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development/ Office of the Arts, for education and renovations at the project in Winsted.

The Community Foundation of Greater New Britain awarded AMP $2,500, a portion of the money that is needed for a collaborative project at the House of Arts, Letters and Sciences Academy in New Britain.

Students at HALS will create a ceramic tile mural highlighting their community and the work contributions of Stanley Black & Decker, which is headquartered in New Britain. The project also includes a student visit to Stanley to see work underway and a chance to talk with employees, as well as a visit to AMP in Winsted. The tile mural will ultimately become part of the permanent installation at AMP, with a twodimensional print of the finished project remaining at HALS. AMP is seeking an additional $2,700 from businesses and individuals to cover remaining expenses for the project.

AMP also received a $10,000 grant from the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, which will be used towards the secondfloor expansion and accessibility of the mural building with railings and stairs. AMP’s recent series of Open Mill tours, which have given the public opportunities to view the mural installation progress, have illustrated the importance of making the viewing platforms physically accessible, to give visitors a more effective and comfortable location to see the fivestory art. Money that was raised from AMP’s annual appeal will also be used for this project.

The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development/Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment of the Arts, a federal agency, awarded AMP $12,000, which represents partial funding for an “All School Mural” at the Pearson School in Winsted, Oliver Wolcott Technical School in Torrington, and the CREC Montessori Magnet School in Hartford.

Students in each school will work alongside AMP teaching artists to explore work in their community and their own vocational interests, and will then create a study of a mural which they will complete and install in their school building, culminating with a community reception to celebrate the project. The program will also include a student trip to AMP to see the current mural installation progress, as well as an exhibit at AMP that will feature prints of each school’s final mural and a Q&A with AMP Founder and Artistic Director Ellen Griesedieck.

“The American Mural Project, even before officially opening to the public, is receiving a large number of requests for programming and services — in a continually evolving space — and we are excited to begin meeting those needs and demands,” said Amy Wynn, AMP’s executive director. “This growth spurt for AMP is made possible, in part, because of the support from the state, and from these generous foundations.”

Launched in 2002 by artist Ellen Griesedieck, the American Mural Project (AMP) is creating the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world—a mural 120 feet long, 48 feet high, and up to ten feet deep. The mural is a tribute to American workers and highlights what has defined the country over the last century. It seeks to inspire, to educate, to invite collaboration, and to reveal to people of all ages the many contributions they can make to American culture. Nothing like it exists in the world.

More than 15,000 children and adults have helped create pieces of the mural, which will be housed in two former mill buildings on Whiting Street in Winsted, Connecticut. Scope Construction finished renovations on the mural building in fall 2018, and the lengthy process of assembling and installing the mural is now underway. Programming is currently offered for schools and teachers, afterschool partnerships, summer enrichment camps, and an apprenticestyle internship program.