Community volunteers needed to help paint mural

August 11, 2023  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

The image titled "Madonna's Earth" by artist Raphaella (Raph) Brice will be painted and installed as a mural on the back of 29 Stowe Street. Courtesy image

Painting begins this weekend on the “Madonna's Earth” mural that project organizers are aiming to install on the back of 29 Stowe Street in September. 

The Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition raised $10,000 from individual donors and business sponsors and received a $20,000 Better Places Grant from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development for the project that it has envisioned since the organization formed in 2020. Members conceived it as a community mural “to uplift the voices of BIPOC artists with public art,” it explains on its website. 

After a call to artists to submit designs, the image featuring the Black Madonna by Burlington artist Raphaella (Raph) Brice was chosen for the project. Brice is a self-taught, queer, digital artist and emerging multimedia muralist who works with paint, vinyl, and laser-etched objects.

This 8 x 24-foot artwork will be created in sections on aluminum and then mounted on the building which faces Railroad Street in downtown Waterbury. The building is home to Stowe Street Cafe and Bridgeside Books and the anti-racism group on its website thanks building owners John and Nicole Grenier for offering to host this public art project.

On Monday, the Waterbury Select Board approved a request from the group to place a sign on the Stowe Street bridge near the mural site that explains the project. 

Now the public art team is looking for community members to help paint the mural panels. Starting this Saturday through Aug. 23, volunteers are invited to participate in painting sessions roughly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday both weeks. 

Art team member MK Monley said they are looking to schedule volunteers in shifts of up to three hours. Anyone interested should send an email to waarcpublicartproject@gmail.com for sign-up details. 

More information about the mural, its sponsors, and the artist including a video where Brice talks about the design concept, is online at waterburyantiracism.com.