The Lenape Mural Project: evolution of a supergraphic

 
 

The Beginning: A Blank Wall

This concrete building at 26 Race Street in Frenchtown, has inspired me to paint a mural. A.k.a the Paddle Creek Kayak building, it stands at the gateway to my little town on the Nishisakawick Creek. Across the street is the landmark National Hotel. The wall is 16 feet high, with a 12 foot span to the left of the window.

This empty canvas has beckoned to me for several years. This year I am responding. It will be my second mural in Frenchtown. I painted the Secret Garden, a 10 foot high mural on Harrison Street, when I moved here in 1999. It marked a home coming for me, finding my heart in Frenchtown.

I didn’t know what I wanted to paint on the building on Race Street. The inspiration came when my partner, Don Dalen, and I were asked by by Councilman Brian Davison to join the Green Team in Frenchtown. The Green Teams’ purpose is to coordinate activities to create a greener community. When I perused the categories to choose from to which I might commit my time and energy, I noticed that there were opportunities for cultural and educational outreach. It occurred to me that my urge to paint that 16 foot cement wall might find it’s calling as a Green Team  project.

Nishisakawick

Nishisakawick is translated from Lenape as, “two outlets of a stream near a house”. The Lenape Indians camped, hunted and fished the river on the land that we now occupy. They lived here for thousands of years. I wanted to pay tribute to the original sustainable community. I decided that I wanted to paint a Lenape encampment on the river, as it would’ve appeared before our intrusion.

The Murals of John Pugh

The murals of John Pugh have also provided very strong inspiration for the imagery in this mural,
When I first viewed his work on the internet, I thought, I want to paint a trompe l’oeil mural as convincing as that. I love the effect of the broken cement wall framing the view into another reality. What a perfect device to show a view back in time.

My first step is always to the local library. I took out a stack of books on the Lenape. I found a wonderful little pen & ink illustration that gave me a good feeling of what a Lenape settlement may have looked like. I made a little sketch of my own which would be reworked many times but it provided the essence of the idea to take my proposal to Frenchtown’s Planning Board to secure their permission to paint the mural.

Planning Board

I completed all the necessary paperwork to insure that The Lenape Mural was on the agenda when the Planning Board met on the last Wednesday of May. I had secured the permission of the owner of the building, who happens to be an old friend. He and his wife wrote me a lovely letter in support of the mural. At the conclusion of my presentation, the Planning Board gave me their blessing and wished me good luck on the project. I have since spoken to a friend who is active on the Planning Board in Asbury Park, NJ about the difficulties and complications of accepting mural projects in her town. I am grateful that Frenchtown embraces artistic endeavor with open arms and an appreciation for the benefits we artists provide.

Next, I needed to refine my sketch. I showed it to a colleague, Ilya Barger. Ilya has a very astute eye and she immediately pointed out that the child standing outside the trompe l’oeil wall would need to be bigger to successfully convince the viewer. My next sketch really shows the difference an important adjustment like that make.

My partner, Don, and I scheduled a trip to see John & Susan Kraft of Lenape Lifeways in northern Jersey. John is a second generation archeologist specializing in Lenni Lenape culture. He had actually recreated a Lenape camp at Waterloo Village which has since been dismantled, a great loss to our cultural heritage. Fortunately, his work is beautifully documented on his website and he very generously shared his time and the image files with us. I’ve posted a few of the photos here. Visit his website at Lenape Lifeways for a feast of imagery and information.

Preparations

In preparation for the full scale mural, I decided to make an acrylic painting on canvas. I asked friends to model for me in “costume”. Brian is shown here in blue jeans with a dish towel hanging from his belt to simulate breechcloth and leggings. Another friend agreed to pose with an upside down baseball bat, as if she was holding a large pestle for grinding corn. Don’s son John Ryan was the perfect choice for the 21 century man peering back in time. I asked him to wear a red t-shirt, jeans, sneakers and to wear his baseball hat on fashionably backwards.

Final Planning Stages

Below is the artwork in it’s final stages of completion. The painting needed to be re-proportioned to eliminate the top quarter of the “broken wall.” This artwork will be made available as a giclee print and the new proportions are more appropriate for viewing inside. The mural will be on a wall that is 16′ high, and so the “broken wall” needs to extend upward to reveal a good deal more sky and foliage.

I would like to add some details such as adornment to their dress and perhaps some wildlife in the forest and birds in migration. The details bring it to life.

See the mural painting in progress on our website, the Lenape Mural Project.

Tags: exterior mural, Frenchtown, Lenape Indians, supergraphic, tromp l'oeil