Ta-da! Video reveals famous Waterbury mural in its new home

December 5, 2020  |  By Lisa Scagliotti 

UPDATE: This story was updated to correct the year Arvad’s closed.

Steve Perkins, executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, introduces the former Waterbury mural, "Tip of the Iceberg: Some Remarkable Vermonters," in a video that can be viewed online on YouTube. (see below) Screenshot.

The “Tip of the Iceberg” mural from inside the former Arvad’s Grill & Pub has a new home at the Vermont History Center in Barre but – you guessed it – no one can go visit the restored boisterous, historical bar scene yet because the center is closed due to COVID-19. 

That just meant that Steve Perkins, executive director of the Vermont Historical Society, needed to get a little creative for the big reveal. Instead of a reception with invited guests and refreshments, Perkins recorded a video. 

The roughly 3-minute clip features Perkins standing in front of the mural which was installed in sections in the conference room at the center earlier this year. But because the facility is only open in a limited by-appointment capacity for researchers, the restored art work has yet to get a proper celebration to mark the end of its harrowing journey to what many hope will be its permanent home. 

Perkins in the video tells the tale of “Tip of the Iceberg: Some Remarkable Vermonters,” a life-size art work created in 2007 by Waterbury muralist Sarah-Lee Terrat inside the then-popular downtown Waterbury pub. 

The mural mostly revealed before being extracted from the pub wall. File photo by Maryanne Larkin.

The mural depicts a bustling bar scene with a collection of more than 50 figures from Vermont’s history and popular culture. A keen eye can spot familiar characters such as  Ethan Allen, Bernie Sanders, hockey star John LeClair and Lois Padoky, the hot dog lady from Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace. It takes a carefully labeled key, however, to identify others like author and illustrator Tasha Tudor, Shelburne Museum founder Elektra Havermeyer Webb and Waterbury pastor Father Logue. 

The mural emerges from under the new coat of paint after painstaking scrubbing with citrus cleaner. File photo courtesy Maryanne Larkin.

By an uncanny stroke of luck, the mural was rescued from what was thought to be its destruction after Arvad’s closed in 2017. When a new restaurateur took over the space at 3 South Main St., the mural ended up covered in a layer of fresh latex paint. The move was lamented throughout the community before the restaurant even opened. By summer 2018, Arvad’s successor Allium was closed. 

Figuring there was nothing to lose given the apparent loss of the original art, building owner Maryanne Larkin – who had run Arvad’s with her husband Jeffrey more than 27 years – decided to see what would happen if she tried to remove the new paint. Much to her surprise and to Terrat’s as well, the new paint scrubbed off, revealing the mural underneath.  

Terrat said she figured the top clear layers that sealed the original art were just enough to prevent the new paint from seeping in. After experimenting with several cleaners, they chose a citrus solution to painstakingly rub over the entire wall to reveal the mural. 

A piece of the mural sits on the floor during the removal at the pub. This section depicts at the top Figure, the first Morgan Horse sire; former Govs. Madeleine Kunin and Howard Dean; hockey star John LeClair and ice cream entrepreneur Jerry Greenfield behind the bar. File photo by Maryanne Larkin.

Contractor Joel Baker joined the team in early 2019 to carefully cut out the wall in sections that were then stored in a vacant commercial space for while Terrat carefully restored the piece. Larkin commended property owner Wayne Lamberton for his contribution to the project “Basically we used his empty office space for almost a year at no cost,” she said.

Terrat said she and Larkin also spent time looking for a new home for the piece. 

They already had had success with the second of the two murals from inside Arvad’s. Another work titled "Out in Waterbury" depicting a street scene of Waterbury from the 1930s was preserved after the pub initially closed. It was removed and given to the Waterbury Historical Society which followed through by installing it inside the Waterbury train station in framed sections. 

A few connections later, and “Tip of the Iceberg” was bound for the Vermont History Center. But as luck would have it, the installation was completed early this year just before COVID-19 led to the governor’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order in the spring, Perkins said. 

Terrat and Larkin said even they haven’t been to visit the piece in person yet. “I was planning a celebration but unfortunately, that never happened,” Larkin said. 

For now, the mural is safe and it awaits the return of normal activity to the center, hopefully sometime in 2021. Perkins said he has updated the original key so information is current when people do come in to view the mural. They will have an updated reference to identify the famous figures. 

There’s no wait to watch the video, of course, which can be viewed online from anywhere with an internet connection. Find it on the Vermont Historical Society’s YouTube page or watch below.