Two more downtown public art projects are on the drawing boards

Nicole Grenier and MK Monley on the bridge

beside 29 Stowe Street where they envision a

new mural hat will promote diversity and

inclusion. Photo by Gordon Miller 

A plan to add another mural to downtown Waterbury has found its blank canvas: the northeast side of Stowe Street Cafe and Bridgeside Books.

Property owners Nicole and John Grenier, who bought the building in 2021, stepped up to offer the space for a mural conceived by the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition. The grassroots organization has a mission “to create a community where every person can fully experience freedom, belonging and love on a daily basis” and envisions the mural to depict that ideal.

“We want it to be inclusive and we want people of color to feel welcomed,” said MK Monley, a coalition member and leader of its public art mission. “We want a diverse representation of people involved in the project.”

The mural project is the latest effort to bring public art to community spaces in Waterbury by a number of organizations. Most recently, the “Phoenix Rising” mural was added to the side of 5 Stowe Street in 2021 marking the 10 years of recovery since Tropical Storm Irene. Last summer, local school students working with a Burlington artist added murals to two large electrical boxes at the Stowe Street and Park Row intersections along Main Street.

Another project to refurbish the Stowe Street Alley with garden plants, a new walkway and commissioned artwork began last year and continues to advance with a recent call to artists to create two key anchors for the space.

The project for Stowe Street Alley — also known as Jack’s Alley in honor of Jack Carter, the longtime owner of the adjacent Stowe Street Emporium, who died in June 2021 — needs experienced engineers, landscape gardeners, artists and community members to bring it to fruition, said Karen Nevin, executive director of Revitalizing Waterbury, which is spearheading that project. 

So far, the group has fundraised for the project by selling bricks engraved with up to three lines of text for $100 each that will be used in the walkway. The first brick sale brought in more than $20,000. Another offer to the community to purchase bricks ended recently with 71 more orders placed, Nevin said. Revitalizing Waterbury has issued a call for artists to design two key elements of the project: a medallion feature in the center of the alley and a gateway which Nevin described as the “focal point entrance from the street to the alley.” The solicitation specifies that the designs for both features “should create a welcoming environment and brings joy and tranquility to the site.” The materials used should also “stand the test of time,” Nevin said, and last 20 years through Vermont winters. 

Interested artists can apply with their designs until March 15 for the medallion and by April 1 for the gateway. Applicants must have prior experience and references, and they can work solo or as a team. They’ll present their proposals to the project’s steering committee which includes community members. The selected candidates will receive up to $5,000 for the medallion and $30,000 for the gateway.