‘Madonna’s Earth’ mural gets a home along Stowe Street
October 1, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti Artist Raphaella Brice on the Stowe Street bridge with the installed ‘Madonna’s Earth’ mural below on 29 Stowe Street. Photo by Gordon Miller
A community project two years in the making has added a new colorful piece of public art to downtown Waterbury along Stowe Street.
The “Madonna's Earth” painting was designed by Burlington mural artist Raphaella Brice for the project organized by the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition. The aim was to highlight art by BIPOC artists to further through art its mission and message of equity, diversity and racial justice. Along the way, it sought to involve the community in the art work’s creation as well.
The colorful image of a Black Madonna draws on an ancient archetype where the mother figure gives shelter to people of many races. Brice said the inspiration for it is a Haitian Vodou story from the book “Nan Dòmi,” by Mimerose Beaubrun.
Brice designed an earlier Black Madonna mural that’s mounted on the exterior of Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library. That commissioned piece, however, was more of a solo project, Brice said Thursday.
In contrast, the Waterbury project was a large group effort from the community fundraising that collected the first $10,000 for the mural to the state community development grant that matched the fundraising. Then this summer, approximately 50 local residents of all ages took part in painting the design on panels supervised by Brice and project leaders MK Monley and Chiyomi McKibbin.
Building owners Nicole and John Grenier supplied the blank canvas – the rear side of their building at 29 Stowe Street. The building is home to their business Stowe Street Cafe and Bridgeside Books and several apartments. It sits alongside the Stowe Street bridge over the railroad tracks where a plaque has been mounted with information about the mural project. The sign has a QR code that links to the website waterburyantiracism.com/mural.
Click to enlarge the photos below.
On Thursday, workers from the Essex sign company, Sammel Group, completed the installation on the building exterior.
The plaque on the bridge shares the mural story and its code links to the website waterburyantiracism.com/mural.
Along with Grenier, McKibbin and Monley, Brice took in the scene from the bridge. “This is the greatest project I’ve ever worked on,” Brice said.
Late Saturday afternoon, Stowe Street Cafe hosted a reception to celebrate the mural installation. “I’m so thankful for the opportunity to share my light and my story and my gift to you all,” Brice told the crowd.
Nicole Grenier also emphasizes that the mural is intended to be viewed from the bridge. The adjacent home and lot is private property and members of the public should respect that, Grenier said.
The cafe posted on its Facebook page a time-lapse video of the installation and a short clip of remarks by Brice at the reception. They can be found online here.