Richmond Town Center Murals
2026 Town Center Murals Theme:
VERMONT STATE SYMBOLS
What do a Western Honey Bee, Apple Pie, a Monarch Butterfly, a Hermit Thrush, Slate, a Painted Turtle, a Sugar Maple, the Bear's Head Tooth Fungus, a Morgan Horse, Marble, a Walleye, Milk, the Charlotte Whale, Granite, Grossular Garnet, a Brook Trout, the Mt Holly Mammoth, a Northern Leopard Frog, Randall Linebacker Cattle, Red Clover, Talc, the Gilfeather Turnip and the Governor Aiken Bucktail Streamer all have in common? They are all official symbols of Vermont and the inspiration for this year's Town Center Murals!
The murals covering the basement windows of the Richmond Town Center building are repainted each year by the community under the guidance of Radiate Art Space. It is now time to create the new ones. Join us to create new murals based on the Vermont state symbols! Your ideas are welcome and no previous experience is necessary to help design or paint.
Town Center Murals workshops:
Tuesday, June 30, 12:30-2:30pm
Tuesday, July 7, 12:30-2:30pm
Sunday, July 12, 1-3pm
The coming workshops will be held to answer questions, communicate ideas, consider possible collaboration, try out different compositions and colors using the same acrylic paints that we will use for the final painting and to review the process and the requirements for the submission of a final design. There will be more workshops in August to help paint the murals.
All workshops are at Radiate Art Space
All workshops are free, but please register on line to help providers plan.
Workshop leaders Judy Bush and Ellen Falsgraf
If you are not able to attend a workshop but would like to like to get involved or if you have questions about the process contact Judy Bush. judybbush@gmail.com
History of the Murals
Back in 2017, when Radiate Art Space was just up and running as a community non-profit art space, we quickly realized that natural light was desirable if not necessary for creating art. We were determined to raise enough money to reinstall working windows where previous ones had been boarded up in the 100 + yr old Richmond Town Center. To that end, we fundraised with a “duck race” that had been a popular fundraiser for the Teen Center (RATC-Nest) located in our space before us. We raised over $1,000, and years later, with the help from the town, we replaced two of the windows. In the intervening years, a Radiate art class was held on mural painting. The first murals were then painted by local pre-teens/teens on the panels that cover the windows. Since that time, with the formal approval of the Selectboard, the process of painting murals has become a community art activity curated by Radiate Art Space.