Above, a detail of the mural design; see the bottom of the post for the full design.
The Litchfield Arts Council will bring the community together beginning this spring to create a mural for the elevator shaft of the Bantam Arts Factory.
Measuring eight feet wide and 35 feet high, the mural with exuberant colors will pay homage to the region’s heritage as a hub of the arts, artisanship, agriculture, culture, and manufacturing.
A central image of a woman making pottery will be surrounded by references to other defining elements of Litchfield, including agriculture, the Bantam Cinema & Arts Center and local residents in the film business, the town’s bakeries, chefs and food establishments – and the signature Bantam rooster, of course.
The Arts Council has partnered with Goshen artist Danielle Mailer, who describes her figures as part autobiographical, and part mythological and spiritual, combining threads of her consciousness in a joyful explosion of pattern and color. She has created several public murals in downtown Torrington.
A January Connecticut Magazine story about Mailer, the daughter of famed American novelist Norman Mailer and abstract painter Adele Morales, highlighted the Bantam Arts Factory mural project, saying:
“Like her Torrington mural, this installation will also be done off-site with the help of a team of Litchfield students and community members. Then each section will be attached, piece by piece like a giant puzzle, by a professional local sign-maker, a process which Danielle calls an ‘applied mural’ method. … .”
Students from Litchfield Public Schools and Region 6, which will formally merge July 1 to become the Region 20 school district, will participate in painting elements of the mural, as will any community members who are interested in being involved.
Work will take place at the Town Annex in Bantam, and the Arts Council will put out a public call for participants when it’s time for the painting to begin. That and other announcements will be posted to the Arts’ Council’s Facebook page and Instagram feed.
The Arts Council will also be giving people the opportunity to join in and be part of helping bring this community project to life through a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs of creating the mural. By working together, we can bring this beautiful new mural to Bantam. Details of the crowdfunding campaign will be announced on the Arts Council website and social media.
The Litchfield Arts Council was established in 2021 by Sustainable Litchfield, to further their mission “to improve the town’s economic well-being, equity, and respect for the finite capacity of our natural environment’ by showcasing and promoting our extensive artistic community.”
