A BLOOMING
INSPIRATION
Afterthe forced hibernation from the snowstorms of the winter of 1998, I found myself filled with ideas and energies stored up with no place to vent them. Somehow through the mysteries of life, the idea came to me to join a community group and try to help them carry out some of their ideas and plans. One of the first organizations I thought of was Boston Urban Gardeners. I felt that this was a group that appealed to me. I felt I could air my thoughts and have them considered, because I had worked with the group in the past and I enjoyed their activities very much.
It was April already, and the urge for me to get involved was starting to set in. I went to visit the gardeners to see how things were going and especially to see the mural I had painted in 1978 on the wall of a garage that borders the garden. I drove to the gardens, located at 46 Chestnut Avenue, in Jamaica Plain. Although the old mural had deteriorated quite a bit, it made me feel even more enthusiastic about rehabbing the painting.
The old mural was a depiction of, woods and stream, which bought back memories of good times and sincere efforts by past and current members. I contacted someone at the office and made an appointment to meet with the director. The director responded quickly, and I presented my ideas and plans to repaint the mural. It just happened that it was one of the things the organization had on its list of things to do. Winter was behind me now. I was very happy, and moved quickly to deliver a proposal to the board of directors.
The new mural depicts some of the goals of B.U.G. and a touch of my style of painting. It shows a vast stretch of open land in an urban environment, including gardeners of various ethnicity, gender, and age, fruits and vegetables. It also shows the gardeners’ tent, which is a reminder of the wonderful youth gardening program, held during the summer. Some of the activities pictured are balanced with Boston’s skyline in the background. Some of the characters are likenesses of some of B.U.G.’s members. You will also see plants; flowers and trees there are birds and fruits and vegetables that somehow seem to float mysteriously in the air. I also included geometric visuals in an attempt to capture the viewer’s eye and guide the viewer through the picture. Like the previous, mural that I had painted in 1978, I wanted the mural to blend in with the surrounding landscape, so I included trees. The mural is approximately 20x35 painted on a cinder block and stone wall. The mural is fronted on Lamartine Street. It took 120 hours over a three-week period to complete.
The mural was presented in July, 1998, at the annual Board of Director’s Meeting. It was a nice day for the event, with the members gathering under the tent in the garden. The garden was in full bloom at the time, making the event even more wonderful. The turnout was good and included in the crowd were new volunteers and visitors from the community. I was happy to see some of the long-standing members, still there since the seventies. Volunteerism is a good thing, and B.U.G., like many other organizations, depend on a continuing flow of people from the community to join in and make the community a better place for all of us.
PLEASE ENJOY THE FOLLOWING SERIES OF PHOTOS OF A TRUE ROLART EVENT:
Click to enlarge photos
Roland blends in with the Mural in winter.