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Date: 9/13/2022
BELCHERTOWN – On the evening of Sept. 7, the Belchertown Community Alliance (BCA) in partnership with CommonWealth Murals hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the town’s the first large scale mural at 6 Berkshire Avenue.
The mural features the Belchertown Fair, the town beach, intergenerational families, agriculture heritage, the flora and fauna of Belchertown, the Belchertown marching band, and the birdhouses and origami birds of the Community Options Reflections project.
Attendees included state Rep. Jake Oliveira, Belchertown Select Board Chair Jennifer Turner, CommonWealth Murals Director Britt Ruhe, muralist Pablo Kalaka, Belchertown Cultural Council Chair Audrey Anderson, BCA Grants Manager Sarah Maroney, and board member Jill Bierly.
“Public art is something that we’ve always been interested in and it’s such a catalyst for community building,” said BCA Board President April Jasak-Bangs. “We knew that we could use this as an opportunity to get to know our neighbors better and create something that would be powerful for generations to come.”
She continued, “Our goal was to get to the heart of what it means to live in Belchertown featuring things in our past, present and hopes for our futures. It’s really representational of a diverse, inclusive and caring community.”
The BCA is a nonprofit organization that repurpose underutilized landscapes in Belchertown for the pursuit of arts and cultural activities. As well as putting together arts programming for the town. BCA wanted to have a piece created for Belchertown and decided to work with CommonWealth Murals because they have a program where every piece of a mural is worked on by community members.
Bangs told Reminder Publishing there was a lot of outreach involved and the first step was to host community input sessions that CommonWealth Murals facilitated. Community members answered questions on their favorite place and aspect in Belchertown, how the town played a role in their lives, their hopes, and dreams for the future of Belchertown and future generations. Professional muralist Pablo Kalaka took all of the feedback the BCA collected with CommonWealth Murals and came up with a design that would fit on the side of 6 Berkshire Ave. “I’m so grateful to be a part of this project,” Kalaka responded. “It’s an incredible moment.”
The concept was transposed onto a poly-tab mural fabric which was essentially created into a giant paint by number. The BCA took these pieces to two community events – Food Truck Fridays, and the farmers market where folks of all ages painted pieces of the mural. Once the paint by number part was done, Kalaka took those panels back to his studio to refine the community painting with details and shadowing.
Once that was completed, the 5-by-5 poly tab pieces were then permanently installed on the side of 6 Berkshire Ave. like pieces of giant wallpaper. He then did another layer of detail work to get the beautiful mural that’s now displayed for all to see.
“I’ve been super excited about this project from the very beginning,” Jasak-Bangs said. “I’m so proud of the way my community showed up. I’m proud of the outpouring of support and feedback that we’ve received during the entire process. It’s been overwhelmingly positive. We hope that people will look at this mural and see how positive a place that Belchertown is.”