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Date: 6/30/2021
EASTHAMPTON – A mural commissioned and partially funded by the Easthampton Cultural Council (ECC) located on the back of Easthampton Feed along the Manhan Trail has taken shape as an opportunity for the community to benefit from public art.
Titled “Bloom,” the mural is currently in its final design after taking a little over a week to fully complete. John Casey Douglass, owner of Galaxy Restaurant and co-chair of the ECC, and Craig Davis primed the back wall of Easthampton Feed in black a couple of weeks ago, and then Springfield artist Priya Nadkarni Green designed and painted the mural during the last couple of weeks of June.
The Easthampton Cultural Council, which is a volunteer-run nonprofit municipal body that enhances the cultural vitality in Easthampton, receives annual funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council every year based on population density. The council has an opportunity to use 15 percent of these funds that they grant annually for their own council program.
“This is our project as a body,” said Rachel Phillips, the chair of the ECC. “Every year, we are tasked as a cultural council to collect community input.”
The ECC volunteers ask the residents in Easthampton how they would like these state dollars spent on arts and culture. Most years, according to Phillips, there is a large call for accessible public art that is outside for the community to see.
“The idea of a mural checks all those boxes,” said Phillips. “There’s an opportunity for many, many people to benefit from public art.”
Phillips said she found Green on Instagram and thought her work was interesting and engaging. Green also had experience with murals and studio art.
“Rachel called me in 2020 with the idea; I was excited,” said Green. “I normally take on a mural every summer, and there’s always some planning involved, and it took a few months of talking and brainstorming while she was scoping out potential walls.”
According to her artist website, Green, who is originally from New Jersey, is an artist whose oil paintings “... explore the entanglement of East and West, the Far and Near, the Then and Now.” Her work has grown internationally, and has been featured in the Jersey City Museum, University Museum of Contemporary Art, Zimmerli Art Museum, and many more.
Since Easthampton Feed partially sells a wide selection of garden supplies and other organic options, Green wanted to create a mural that intersected her work and what Easthampton Feed co-owner David Stauffer wanted. Normally, Green paints with oils on canvases in her studio while developing specific themes and narratives to focus on.
“Whenever I do a mural, it’s important that it represents what I already do in the studio, since that’s my main gig,” said Green. “Some other things that carry over are the cool color palette, a lot of blues and purples, and the vertical seams and bright color blocks.”
Much more planning goes into creating a mural, especially since there is such a short span of time to create the mural. “And even mixing colors with house paint is very different than with oils,” she added. “But I love this challenge and change of pace.”
Phillips began talking with Stauffer in April about the possibility of a mural in the back of Easthampton Feed. Stauffer liked Green’s work when he immediately saw it. The pairing made sense since a lot of Green’s work uses some floral images and Easthampton Feed sells agricultural products for gardens.
“It took a while to find that match because the last thing I would like to do is make it so people aren’t really represented fully,” said Phillips. “There’s a lot of visibility and a lot of opportunity to engage many people with this public art.”
Priya and her husband Andrae Green, who also helped with this project, took a tour of Easthampton Feed back in April and talked about the idea with Stauffer. Priya submitted some of her work to Stauffer, the owner loved it and told her to make the mural as big as she can. Stauffer decided to pay the balance of Priya’s stipend to go along with the council’s 15 percent. “It isn’t every day that an artist as talented as Priya agrees to paint her work on your building,” said Stauffer.
According to Phillips, the ECC received $12,400 for 2021 from the state. “We put together a really interesting opportunity, and a lot of people came together to make it really great. It needs to represent Dave Stauffer and what that business does, but also it needs to represent Priya’s work.”
Once everyone said yes to the project, Priya was given free will to create the design. Joe Carrier of Fleury Lumber in Easthampton paid for all the paint that Priya wanted, which ended up being $3,000. Chuck Conner of Taylor Real Estate picked up the tab for the rest of the materials like brushes, buckets and plaques for the murals.
Phillips credits Douglass for doing an amazing job with this project, as well, and added that he is really dedicated to creating a thriving art scene in Easthampton. “He really does help make so much happen here,” said Phillips. “He’s very, very valuable.”
The total projected time Priya had to finish the mural was seven to 10 days. She projected her mural design onto the wall the first night she started, and then traced it with paint. Phillips and some volunteers and friends she recruited then helped Priya block the initial color, and Priya began adding detail shortly after.
Priya told Reminder Publishing that the mural would be a breath of fresh air for the community, especially for those who ride on the trail.
“It’s been so awesome, there’s been so much help and support,” said Priya, about working with the ECC on this. “They have a lot of respect for what I do, which is always a pleasure.”
The ECC has another round of grants opening on Sep. 1 later this year.
The organization also allows people to serve two consecutive three-year terms on the cultural council and Phillips encouraged those who would like to volunteer to do so and get involved with the arts community in Easthampton. People who are interested can attend the organization’s monthly meetings. Those interested can visit https://www.easthamptonculturalcouncil.org/ to learn more.