Nature Inspires Art - Mural Project 2023
Richmond Town Center
Art is supposed to make you think!
The theme for the 2023 Town Mural is “Art and Nature.” Cicero said, “Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.” Marc Chagall said, “Great art picks up where nature ends.” The Call to Artists asked, “What images come to mind when you read these quotes?” This year individual artists submitted their inspirations from nature to create their own panel. The resulting mural contains a range of realistic, abstract, and thought-provoking works that upon inspection, like nature itself, reveal more detail than meets the eye — especially from the road! In case you don’t get a chance to walk around the Town Center building and enjoy these up close, details of each of the panels are found below, followed by the artists’ statements and pictures of the full panels.
LJ Kopf
Humans are nature with an astounding capacity for creation and destruction. Artists consciously choose creation. To paraphrase Aristotle (a pre-camera/computer guy), visual artists use their hands to manifest spirit. And… “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” ---Carl Sagan. “Each [person] is composed of substances identical with the substance of all that surrounds him, both the common objects of his disregard and the hot centers of stars.” ---James Agee (from Let Us Now Praise Famous Men). In my painting, I could have put the cosmos inside the hand and flora in the background instead of the way I did it.
Deb Sharpe
I feel fortunate that I grew up in the woods and spent my time exploring lakes, streams, and meadows. Even as a youngster, I carried a sketchbook with me, so became familiar with and fascinated by the diversity of forms, colors, and patterns all around me. The Pileated Woodpeckers were a rare and thrilling sighting - now I see evidence of them more often and am still astonished by their startling prehistoric and regal appearance. The Pileated Woodpecker appears in many cultural traditions as a symbol of loyalty, perseverance, and a protector of the forest. I felt drawn to create an image of this grand bird to celebrate and respect its presence in Richmond.
Ellen Falsgraf
My original mural art was very different than it turned out. I photographed the White Admiral Butterfly on top of my rock collection for an art exercise project in Judy Bush’s class. I then painted the rocks to look like butterfly wings. I had every intention of doing the same thing on the mural, but I decided I liked the more simplified version of the butterfly and the rocks, so that’s how I left it. Art, like nature, evolves and changes! I enjoyed the time I spent painting this 4 x 4 ft square. I also much appreciated the excellent painting assistance and company I received from ChiChi Barrett.
Robin Hadden
The spiderweb, supported by two budding sumac branches, is made even more beautiful by jewels of dew bedecking the gossamer strands. Spiders are unique artists who create a new work every time the weather or passersby disturb the web. Coming together with the larger community to paint these murals was a special experience. Thank you to Judy and Rebecca for helping find the right colors and to Chichi Barrett for helping me paint all the little white dots!
Designed by Tim Schonholtz
Painted by Grace Garavan
I've always found that edible things found in nature have an allure that goes beyond deliciousness! The knowledge that a berry is edible draws us in and it's then we see how beautiful it is. But of course it goes the other way too. When we see a beautiful thing growing you think it might be tasty — A pleasure to all the senses!
Julie Longstreth
The mural refers to our place as human beings in nature, and uses art as a way to communicate how we can help or hinder our path going forward. It depicts human beings as the interface of art and nature. We make art to preserve our thoughts for future generations, and art-making is one of the traits that defines our humanity.
Designed by Natasha Bogar
Painted by Jean Kelly and Amy Ludwig
This green and purple flower hides beneath its leaves. By painting this native wildflower on a larger-than-life scale we are highlighting its beauty and presence here in Vermont each spring. Native plants promote biodiversity and stewardship of our natural heritage. The Jack in the Pulpit is on the do not pick list. Native Americans used the roots of jack-in-the-pulpit for a large variety of medicinal purposes, especially for eye and respiratory conditions. They considered the root very poisonous without careful preparation.
Eric Cloutier
I was thinking about common patterns in nature, shapes and structures which show up again and again across different materials and scales. This mural depicts a surrealistic branching tree structure which imitates various plants, corals, fungi, crystals, clouds, etc. while not having a well-defined size or subject. Hopefully it looks cool too.
Rebecca Rouiller
Inspired by Swiss chard growing in my garden last autumn, nature always pulls me in with its vibrant colors and shapes. The bird's eye view of the plant highlighted the straight hard edges of the stems with the soft curviness of the leaves, while the boldly colored stems accentuated the cool green leaves. The combinations made this plant irresistible to paint. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit."
Judy Bush
Random thoughts as I painted this panel: I’ve always wanted to paint a window here, to make it a window again. Some say artists show us the world, so do windows. Nature and art: we like to frame it and hang it on the wall. Sometimes people think nature is art. We like to put it in a pot and bring it inside. The glass panes might suggest the division we sometimes make between nature and ourselves. (“Man vs. Nature”). And thank you to Nancy Sandblom for her help in painting.
Show your support for this artwork by donating to Radiate Art Space!
Radiate Art Space is a 501 (c) (3) that relies on your support to produce this community artwork at no cost to taxpayers. Volunteers and artists freely give their time on this project, but your money will help pay for the paint and other supplies!
The artists hard at work!
