- Details
- Category: Current Issue
MLK mural
may have
found a home
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — Fingers crossed — step one for a customized mural in Putnam for the Martin Luther King Jr mural project is on the cusp of being approved.
Muralist and Art Guild New England member Emida Roller said the first step — approval of a large and visible outside wall to hold the mural— is close.
The local group of artists have been working for months to find a business willing to host the MLK mural early next year.
Roller said the mural will be painted on about 18 8-foot by 4-foot panels and will be installed by Jan. 17. Closely following the OK for space for the mural, residents will be surveyed on what MLK means to this community. When the surveys come back the group will start the mural design based on the survey results.
The MLK project, conceived by RiseUP for the Arts Group, in conjunction with CT Murals, awarded Putnam $7,500 to create a mural reflecting this community’s take on the heart of Martin Luther King’s message.
Elaine Turner, president of the Arts Guild Northeast, said Putnam’s application was accepted several months ago. RiseUP will award $7,500 and it has to be matched by the town. bankHometown has donated $2,500. The rest of the match will be raised from individuals. The Sustainable CT rules for that call for 50 to 75 individuals to make individual donations to hit that $7,500 match total.
There is a GoFundMe site for donations:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/putnams-mlk39-diversity -and-equity-mural?fbclid=IwAR3IbeaqH1uW9UBdkiNGNFr_ StMFHG_Kzk1aG96V_Pf2FHakXWSCd_JH6qM
Roller said depending on the success of the fund-raising, the group hopes to start painting in December and she plans to call on the community to help with that.
.