Historical Mural in Bellows Falls Vermont, 30′ x 30′, 2000
Painted on side of building in Bellows Falls, Vermont
by Charles C. Clear III and Bonnie Turner
Bellows Falls is a picturesque small town in southeastern Vermont. The town is nestled by the Connecticut River to the east, and just across the river is Walpole, New Hampshire. The sleepy town is surrounded by mountains, or “hills” as the locals call them. Bellows Falls is in many ways the quintessential New England town.
In the summer of 2000, we were asked to paint a large historically accurate Mural on the side of the “Flat Iron” building in Bellows Falls, Vermont. The mural would feature the town square at the turn of the twentieth century. To create a working design for this mural, we researched early historical photographs in the archives of the local library.
The historical mural was commissioned by the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project, or R.A.M.P, a non-profit arts organization headquartered in Bellows Falls. The mural was funded by a variety of individuals and organizations, including the Vermont Arts Council, the Windham Foundation, the Vermont Community Foundation, the Town of Rockingham, and Ben & Jerry’s – makers of the world’s greatest ice cream! (13 years later, we worked with Ben & Jerry’s graphic designer to paint a Mural in a new Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop in Providence, Rhode Island)
We stayed in Bellows Falls to paint the mural. We loved the town and all the people that we met! It was hot that summer. We spent many long hours every single day in the basket of a hydraulic boom lift. We painted the 30′ x 30′ historically accurate architectural mural on a rough brick surface in one months time.
Contact us to commission a Mural painted on the side of your building!
The Art Of Life
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