Page 16 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022

and English tests.
“I think art is really transformative for a lot of
things,” Plotkin said. “It’s transformative to peo- ple and their spirits — whether it be visual art or music, art is beauty, and it helps change people.” Simpson added that “there’s a woman that
lives on this street that has told me she’s seen people stopping in the parking lot to look at the mural — they linger a little and take photos. She thinks it’s good because everyone is really excit- ed to see the finished product, too.”
“We don’t want people to be afraid to come to downtown Springfield. We want people to enjoy what’s down here.”
‘Puzzle of Ghost Images’
Simpson, an art professor at UMass Amherst, said he was flooded with ideas for the mural when sitting with the City Mosaic council. He told BusinessWest there were plenty of ideas about historical figures and events show-
ing Springfield’s pride, but the wall had a different idea, in the form of faded vintage advertisements.
“I said, ‘yeah, I know you want all of this stuff on the wall, but there are also the ads. We want to restore some of them, so I reserve the right to do whatever I want here,’” Simpson said. “When I started, I felt like the wall was going to dictate what it should be. So whatever can be saved, will
be saved. Then we thought there was so little to be saved, but eventually, when you get one thing, you’d start to see another.”
He explained the process: research and stare. Then relax. Simpson compared the mural to a “puzzle of ghost images” they were hoping would fall into place. It was beyond the scope of his usual work, but he took it all in and got to work.
“We got addicted to find-
ing what was there previ-
ously and recreating it,” he
said. “Evan encouraged me
to work on the design. I tried
to keep changing it, but it led
me here. There has been such
great teamwork that it feels like only one person is working on it.”
Artist Susan Riano was also impressed by the work that has gone into the mural on Worthing- ton Street.
“Going in, we all thought it would be a huge project, but we didn’t let the thought of getting overwhelmed bother us. We just went at it and things went pretty naturally, organically. Look- ing at it now is kind of crazy, but amazing to see how much we were able to accomplish through the whole process,” she said. “It was really cool to see the work of another artist and figure out their process, and see the way they did things — it was a learning experience for us as well.”
Some of the images painted on the wall are
Photo by Mark Murray
Khali Hernandez puts the final touches on one of the mural’s small sections.
meant to represent Springfield and its commu- nity through the years. For instance, Simpson and the artists painted a Rolls-Royce with Prest- ley Blake, co-founder of Friendly’s, driving it.
When community members see themselves reflected in social spaces, they feel a sense of respect, ultimately allowing for people to identi- fy with the place they are from, live in, or are vis- iting. Cultural assets are part of a neighborhood
Mural
Continued on page 69
Michael Lynch
Michael Lynch
Barbara-Jean Deloria
Barrbara-Jean DelLorriia
Michael Moriarty
Michael Moriarty
James Michael Montemayor Davey
Henry "Hank" Downey
Henry "Hank" Downey
Joe Doug Kulig Gilbert
Joe Doug Kulig Gilbert
To us,
To us,
James Michael Montemayor Davey
Experience counts.
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16 AUGUST 22, 2022
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