Watertown Mural Update - A new month begins

August 1 - Day 22

A new month begins and the youth artists are still working on the wall. Today after a pizza party they are ready to paint again. Some of the students are away on vacation.  Donna Calleja, an art teacher at Watertown High School, comes by for a visit. She has helped Gregg Bernstein recruit students and introduced him to the art program and the kids.

Here she is talking with Gregg.

She also joins the kids for a picture at the wall.

Julia likes to layer the greens for the trees and bushes.

Liana layers the blues on the windows.

Marvin gets some tips from Gregg.

And then works with color on his bus.

Abi likes the sports figures and enjoys adding color here.

Watertown Mural Update - Perfect painting weather

August 5 - Day 24

Today the weather is perfect for painting the mural.  Now the process is 
layering the paint in order to define the work.  Gregg explains to me 
how it is done.  He considers the nature part to be more organic and 
fluid, the buildings and people are more defined and structural.  He 
sometimes uses 5 or 6 layers to get the results.  With the trees for 
example he has the kids paint the darker colors, layered, and then pulls 
out the picture with the lighter colors.  With the buildings he gets the 
basic colors and adds shadows to the windows to pull them out.  The 
mural is becoming more vibrant, more alive as the paint is layered.


Here Gregg explains to me about the town diner and layering.


A big treat.  The youth artists have their art teacher painting this 
morning.  Gregg explains what she will be doing and starts on the figures.


Veronica is painting her ducks

Bela works on the Tufts building.




Julia continues with the organic trees, working on the dark shades.



Liana layers the building and shadows the windows to bring them out and 
to give them depth.


Marvin and his bus.


The bus announces its stop.


Now you can see the difference between the nature part, the more organic 


And the structural part and its lines. 

Watertown Bike Mural Update -- Vibrant Details

August 8 - Day 27

The kids are taking a lunch break with some chocolate chip cookies baked this morning. They give them a thumbs up.


Then Abi goes back to her sports teams, working on detail.


She lives near the playing fields and likes painting the field hockey girls at play.


At this point the mural is becoming even more vibrant.  The grid is being painted out and the details show the vivid elements of the work.




The figures stand out.


The clouds have been added.


It looks almost real.

Watertown Mural Update - Mural Becoming Alive !

August 15 - Day 32


The layering continues and the youth artists work on the last side of the wall. 

Marvin, Liane and Julia are working on this side of the wall which has been added to the project.


Friends break for lunch.  


Emily is finishing some of the main part of the mural. 


The mural is becoming alive! 

Watertown Mural Update - One week to go

August 16 - Day 33

Just one more week and the work will be finished.  Gregg is still giving instructions to the kids.

Everyone has a good laugh.

The paint and the brushes all have an important place in the work. They must be set up each day and put away at night.

The project is very appreciative of the donations from  the Sherwin- Williams store for paint and the Home Depot for the tools of the trade. 

Veronica works on the dancer. 

She gets some help from Marvin 

Watertown Mural Update - Final Week

August 20 - Day 35

The last week of work on the mural begins.  Emmanuel Torres has finished his
summer job and finally has time to work on the mural. He joins right in.



Liana continues with the final touches.


And Bela is there finishing her part.

Watertown Mural Update - Thank you

August 23 - Day 38


It is hard to believe that the last day of work has dawned and the
student artists can call the mural finished.  It has been a fantastic
summer for the kids and a grand accomplishment for them.  There have
been rain days and a day cancelled because of heat and some sickness
and vacations but they have finished what they set out to do. Their intrepid
leader, Gregg Bernstein, has led them through the process but each of them 
can claim the work  that they have done.

Here they are busy putting on the final touches.

We thank all of you for a job well done.  


There will be a grand ribbon cutting ceremony to honor the student artists
in mid-September - date to be announced soon.

Thank you, thank you to the youth artists who have worked on the project: Liana Aleksanyan, Sondos Alnamous, Faiza Amin, Marvin Aramthip, Issabela Carton, Julia Harrington, Emily Hart, Emmanuel Torres, Veronica Torres and Abi Vershbow, and the artist Gregg Bernstein !

Watertown Linear Path Mural -- Where is it, again ?

If you'd  like to visit the completed Watertown Linear Path Mural in person, it is located on the Linear Bike Path that parallels Main Streeet.  It can be accessed easily from the path entrance near the intersection of Summer St. and Forest St.  It can also be accessed in many other places.  See the map below:


View Watertown Mural in a larger map

Watertown Mural Completed

The mural is finished now. Gregg put finishing touches on the mural and added the student artists' names.


There is a special place for people who gave in kind contribution to the work.


Finally the supporters are given a plaque with their names painted on the wall.


A grand celebration was held on September 22 at the wall.


The student artists were honored and received a proclamation read by Mark Sideris, Town Council President. It was officially presented to them on September 24 at the Town Council Meeting. The families gathered to congratulate the students and the work they had done.


Finally on September 30, they will be honored by the School Committee.

We are hoping now that this is just the beginning of public art in Watertown, that this will inspire more murals to make our community a beautiful, vibrant place to live and walk.