CREATING A historic mural
Bergen artist gets a little help from students
Artist Simon Rigg thrives on challenges. The Allendale resident, who was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, has always made art, first as a painter and then a sculptor. h “I studied art in college,” says Rigg. “But when I was in my 20’s, I started a landscape design and construction business in Melbourne and worked on enormous, 100-acre projects. I would dig up and move 20-ton date palms.” h Rather than considering his construction work a distraction from his artistic practice, he found it stimulated his creativity. “I enjoy a project that has immense challenges, because having a problem to solve actually inspires you,” he says.
Over the years, Rigg, now 68, has had exhibitions in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Australia and France. He recently returned from a five-week stay in Pietrasanta, Italy, where he carved from Carrara marble a commissioned sculpture that will be installed at Katara Towers in Qatar. “It was another problem-solving thing for me, and it was fabulously successful,” he says.
Rigg straddles the world of art and construction to the present day, making sculpture and working as a licensed carpenter and contractor. “The sculpture comes in waves,” he says. “I’ll sell something or get a commission or a show, then the wave goes out and I work again. I do a lot of restoration and high-end furniture — unique, one-off pieces — and general carpentry.”
All Rigg’s talents will be used this year as he leads an effort to create a community mural in Allendale. It began in 2019 when he approached the town about a large wall on the site of a former restaurant. “It had a 900-square-foot mural on the history of Allendale, but the mural has deteriorated,” Rigg says. His proposition: create a new historical and environmental ceramic tile mural working with students at Northern Highlands Regional High School. (The mural will be mostly tile, with some painted surfaces. The tile portion can be removed if the owner of the property decides to build on the site.)
Rigg received positive feedback on his idea from town officials but Covid put the project on hold. Last year Rigg gave another presentation, this time to principals from the Allendale elementary, middle and high schools, who responded enthusiastically. Scheduling for the project will begin in the middle of this month with students from the third grade up.
“I’m going to teach them how to do relief ceramics,” Rigg says. “It’s very exciting because the students will be in charge of designing and I will teach them how to fabricate the clay and transfer the images.” Efforts are underway to raise the $180,000 needed to buy two tons of clay, manufacture the mural’s 4,000 tiles, restore the existing wall and mount temporary scaffolding for installation.
Rigg is confident that the finished mural will look prestigious. “It’s historic and community-based,” he said. “It’s an enormous amount of learning, especially for the kids who want to do art as their careers. It ticks every box.”