The Green Street mural gets muddy
The city of Worcester already celebrated the completion of the Green Street bridge mural back in November, but here it is July and there it sits — unfinished. What’s the story? Well, it depends on who you talk to.
After years of planning and fundraising, the painting finally started in September of last year, only to be halted by late October.
“We stopped in the fall when it was freezing, but we had no intention of going back to finish until we got paid,” says Donna Vayo of Fear No Art, the artist retained to do the job.
Vayo claims that she not only hasn’t been paid, but the dollar amount is only half what she originally sough.
“We first wrote a grant to the tune of $30,000,” she says. “That was our bid. It was cut and cut. It was down to like $15,000. They paid us part of it. They were supposed to give us the rest.”
The “they” Vayo speaks of is the city, which is responsible for writing Vayo’s check.
A little background here: This project is now five years in the making. Discussions about repainting the Green Street bridge with a colorful mural started back in 2004. The idea gained momentum when the city manager’s Community Task Force on Bias and Hate Crimes filed an application through the Anti-Defamation League to make Worcester a “No Place for Hate” community.
One of its many projects was to paint a new mural as a kind of visible manifestation of that sentiment. The project is coordinated through the office of the City’s Human Rights Commission. After receiving ideas and input from various community groups, including children from the H.O.P.E. Coalition, the theme “Building Bridges of Understanding,” was chosen for proposed artwork.
The funding for the bridge came from a variety of private, public and corporate sources including the Anti-Defamation League, the Providence & Worcester Railroad and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.
“The contract is in place for a completed project,” says Christina Andreoli, the city’s director of communications. “The mural’s not finished. To date, she’s been paid about $13,500. So she’s been paid more than half and the mural is not completed. She will be paid upon completion of the project.”
“The Human Rights Commission didn’t hold up their end of the deal,” Vayo claims. “They didn’t have the money. The city had to come in and save them. After all is said and done it is a $17,000 project.”
Frances Manocchio, director of the city’s Human Rights Commission, says “The only reason it is incomplete was because we were continuing to seek funding. We had funding in place for the anticipated expense of the bridge. We had some unanticipated expenses that increased the cost, which then led to the need for further fundraising.”
When asked what drove up costs, Manoccio says, “It’s a couple of things. One was we had an initial round of power-washing of the bridge. That was not sufficient, so we had to contract with a private contractor. The washing ended up being one day of power-washing and one day of repairs to the concrete surface of the bridge. An unanticipated expense was police details for each of those days.”
Vayo says now that funding is finally in place, she will resume painting next week.
“Me and my husband, David, are pretty much doing it,” she says. “I have a couple of friends who will help me as well. Once we start it should only take a few weeks.”
Although the theme is “Building Bridges of Understanding” — and the painting is a mural within a mural — Vayo has slipped more than a few allusions to the Canal District into the painting. So has the city.
At the unveiling of the faux completion, it was noted that the Green Street bridge is “a gateway to Worcester’s downtown and the city’s historic Canal District.” At the ceremony, City Manager Michael O’Brien said that the bridge welcomes thousands of visitors daily to the area. Adding, “Now, a vibrant and colorful public art mural captures the essence of our diverse and creative community and the Canal District’s unique history and bright future.”
Last month Vayo sat down with members of the Canal District Taskforce and proposed a mural for the other side of the bridge. According to many in attendance, they were “underwhelmed” by her proposal.
“I have a grant to start the other side. Mike Coogan of Coogan Associates is helping me. We are going to try and get the business owners in the neighborhood to pitch in,” says Vayo.
In the meantime, Vayo starts to finish the front of bridge this week. Will there be an unveiling for the real completion?
“That’s not determined at this point,” says Manocchio. “Our goal with the bridge and Donna as the artist and project manager was to convey in a visual manner the positive aspects about building bridges of understanding and providing a visually appealing, artistic piece of public art in the downtown area. When the painting is complete, it’s going to be a beautiful gateway.”
Vayo says, “They had a completion party and it wasn’t even done. The whole thing has been a nightmare. Hopefully everything will be alright and we will get it done. It will be beautiful and then I can start raising money to do the other side.”
For commentary on the work, see: my5senses.blogspot.com/2007/11/murals-of-people-painting-murals.html and wormtowntaxi.com/2007/10/green-st-bridge-update.html. o
