The completed Fifth Mountain Mural
A few weeks ago, the finished mural mosaic was installed in the new Emergency Wing of the Monadnock Community Hospital, where it will live until final installation in the restored Park Theatre in Jaffrey.
This mural, comprised of 288 panels, each 8" square, is the culmination of nearly two years of work, and the work of over 125 artists, and countless hours of volunteer labor. I am proud and happy to have been a part of this project, that not only raised about $12K for the theatre restoration, but brought together the community in a way that I could never have imagined.
We purposely invited student artwork as part of this project, and even one kindergartener painted a panel. Below, I've included a few individual panels below.
Amelia Johnson, age 5
Briar Haigh, age 11
Mary Iselin - these sheep formed the edge of a pine tree in the completed mural
Barbara Mahar - St. Pat's church
these light blue sky panels were hard to keep values light.
Ann Sawyer - the important thing was to keep the colors and lines of the original mural intact.
Robert Price, our oldest artist
Robert Seaman -he painted more panels than anyone besides myself, and all of them were beautiful.
Ed Merrill - he took over chairmanship of the mural after I moved to New Mexico
Betty Glass... one of many artists who excelled at creating not only artwork that fit into the mural, but
beautiful stand-alone artwork as well
me, this was a real study in close values. These river otters and rocks formed the back of the artist in the "big picture".
Well, I could add about 280 more. This was such a huge undertaking, but the pay off is seeing the finished project, and knowing how it brought people together for a common cause, and created a lasting visual history of the Monadnock region. There are historical figures, events, landmarks, people, places, activities, and many references to all the wonderful things that make the Monadnock region so special.
If you are in the Peterborough, NH area, please stop by the hospital and take a look.
This is super-impressive, and you have a wealth of talent represented here!
ReplyDeleteJudy, this was really an amazing project. I wish you could see it up close and personal, and see how one panel flows to the next.. different artists, different styles, yet, if they followed directions and kept the lines and values and basic colors intact, it all fits like a puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWe had huge support from the artist community, including some artists whose paintings sell for 5 figures.
Pretty darn cool.