Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the Oct. 14 rain date. The Oct. 13 painting event was postponed due to expected rainstorms.
Colt Park in Hartford will be filled with artists on Oct. 14, and you may be one of them. Anyone who wanders past the baseball diamond concession stand can grab a brush and join in.
Two community murals will be painted on the sides of the snack shack from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
One mural, sponsored by Connecticut Center for Nonviolence (CTCN), is themed on one of Martin Luther King’s six principles of nonviolence: “Attack problems, not people.” Artist Corey Pane’s metaphorical design involves a pair of hands weeding out a garden where flowers are damaged by broken glass and handcuffs.
The other, of Pittsburgh Pirates legend Roberto Clemente, is sponsored by RiseUP, a community support and wellness organization, with Friends of Colt Park and the Roberto Clemente Celebration Committee. Pane’s design for that mural resembles Clemente’s 1968 Topps baseball card.
Pane, who created the mural at Willie Ware Community Center at 697 Windsor St., incorporated community members’ suggestions into his design of the two new murals. Pane will draw the outlines on the walls, do some preliminary work and direct community members who want to join in. The paint is latex house paint. An anti-graffiti clear coat will be put over the paint.
The King mural is the fourth in a planned series of six CTCN-sponsored murals in the city, each themed on one of King’s principles. “We want each principle to be visual. People can get together at the murals and discuss how to settle their problems without violence,” said Victoria Christgau, director of CTCN.
The Martin Luther King murals already existing are:
“The universe is on the side of justice,” on the back wall of 224 EcoSpace at 224 Farmington Ave., designed by Tao LaBossiere.
“The beloved community is a framework for the future,” on the side of the Northend Church of Christ at 687 Albany Ave.
“Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people,” at Weaver High, 150 Tower Ave.
The last two murals were designed by University of Hartford art students.
Christgau said, however, that the Weaver mural is inside the school, which is undergoing renovations that may damage the artwork.
“I want to do that one again, and I want it to be outside,” she says.
Two King principles have not yet been muralized:
“Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence” and “Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal.” Christgau does not know yet where those will be painted.
