Burlington, VT: Photographer Carolyn Bates has scheduled several lectures and art demonstrations in September and October to showcase her series of books that highlight examples of public art in and around Burlington. The books and lectures focus primarily on the many murals that grace both the inside and outside of buildings around Queen City.
The books are a photographic romp through the streets of Burlington, capturing images of the many examples of public artistry in the form of paintings and murals on buildings, fences, and walls, all over the city.
In her three books, STREET MURALS OF BURLINGTON, volumes 1, 2, and 3, Bates features her own photographs of this public art, with close-ups of artistic detail as well as panoramas of the various landscapes that host the artworks. Also included in these volumes are interviews with artists who created the works, as well as biographical information about the artists and their careers. The lectures are open to the public, and maps and guidance will be provided for walking tours, with an aim to pique interest in visiting the murals in person all over our city.
Bates reflected on the three-volume project, remembering how she was first attracted to the myriad murals and examples of public art in Burlington before the start of the pandemic when she drove around the city and causally photographed some of the murals. At the time, she posted photos online, asking her friends “Where am I?”
“I started in 2018 asking and answering questions about my photographs of the art on Facebook,” Bates recalled. “I’d ask if people knew the artist. If they’d seen these murals? And my collection of photos grew, along with stories about and from the artists.”
Upon producing and launching the books over the past two years, Bates has organized guided tours and lectures at sites like the April Cornell shop on Battery Street where Magicians Without Borders performed. At the Fletcher Free Library, street mural artists Elizabeth Antoinette Emmett and Jamie Berard talked about their work and engaged with the public about problems with tagging {aka, graffiti} damaging public art and how to deal with the issue. Upcoming talks and tours that accompany the release of the third volume in the series include:
Sept 7, 2024, 2:30 pm: Starting at the Ron Hernandez Studio, 339A Pine Street, Burlington.
The talk, art demonstration, and tour will include a discussion of the work of many Pine Street artists and works.
Bates and artist Ron Hernandez will speak about the murals project. Hernandez will give a demonstration on spray painting art, and how he designs and paints his murals and other works. His murals include an image of the Buddha, located at the Burlington Electric Department building on Pine Street, that was damaged by taggers. Hernandez, who has been a preeminent artist and muralist in Burlington for years, is currently raising funds to help with refurbishing and repairing that work.
He also created two outstanding indoor murals at Main Street Landing, 60 Lake Street (near The Skinny Pancake}. One is of wild animals—elephants, tigers, and lions—on the first floor, and another image shows a 360-degree view of Lake Champlain painted on a vaulted ceiling on the third floor.
Maps will be available for self-guided tours of the many murals in the Pine Street area, and a guided tour will be lead by Bob Devino, a member of the non-profit organization Preservation Burlington, who is hosting the series of lectures.
All three volumes of STREET MURALS OF BURLINGTON will be available for purchase at the lectures and on shelves at bookstores and libraries around Burlington and other towns in the vicinity. Profits on the sale of books go to benefit Ukraine, including a share for Magicians Without Borders, an organization from Lincoln, VT, that performs programs for people in conflict zones in various countries around the world. {See at magicianswithoutborders.com}
Sept 12, 2024, 6:30 pm: at the Pierson Library, Shelburne, VT.
Rutland artist and muralist Katherine Wiegers will discuss aspects of her work that appear in the STREET MURALS OF BURLINGTON series, including one on Pine Street that depicts a gardener smashing a hole in a wall to let colorful flowers flow through. Wiegers will describe her signature style of painting on cloth segments—sometimes on-site and sometimes working in her home studio—and then applying those fabrics to walls and structures far and wide to create many of her murals.
Wiegers has installed a number of murals in Rutland, and several more in the Burlington area, as well, including the Pine Street mural, and one on Battery Street that is no longer there. She also has one at a therapeutic residence on Woodside Drive in Essex.
Oct. 5, 2024, 1:00 pm: Fletcher Free Library, Pickering Room.
The talk and tour and meet-the-artists session include:
A. Artist Tara A. Goreau, whose mural is featured on the cover of STREET MURALS OF BURLINGTON, vol. 1, has completed works in many locations far and wide. She’ll talk about her work, including the painting pictured on the cover of volume one, which is located on King Street at the Turning Point. Another near the bridge in downtown Winooski depicts a river and its resident creatures, and two more can be seen at City Market stores in downtown Burlington and on Flynn Ave. Goreau not only paints a wide variety of subjects, but she writes humorous and poignant stories about her experiences painting them. Attendees at the talk will be treated to her lecture, along with readings from her stories, and images of her body of work.
B. A second artist, Raph Brice, recently relocated to the area, has introduced a new way to fashion a mural. Working with the creative incubator at Generator on Sears Lane, she developed a process to produce murals on vinyl. The award-winning artist has examples of her work featured on the exterior of the Fletcher Free Library, and also in Waterbury.
C. Bates herself will talk about artist Gina Carrera, who created the 900-foot-long mural of jungle foliage and wild animals depicted on the wall of Leahy Way, which is the alley in Burlington that leads from the parking garage onto Church Street. Carera’s original mural had been covered over for several years and was finally uncovered in recent years, so she could restore the work to its original vibrancy. The artist sadly passed away not long after restoring her iconic mural in Leahy Way. Her son, Nick, will be on hand to speak about his mother and her work at the library event.
Maps for self-guided tours will cover surrounding murals at Fletcher Free Library and in the College Street area, including several pieces by Goreau, Bedard, the Anthill Collective, and more.
EDITORS NOTE:
Photographer Carolyn Bates and several artists and supporters of the arts community in Burlington are available to interview for more extensive features on these books and lectures. STREET MURALS OF BURLINGTON can be purchased through bookstores and other retail outlets in the Burlington region.