Over the past month, artists have been painting a once-gray wall on Norwalk's West Avenue for the city's "Welcome to Norwalk" mural. Sitting under Interstate 95 and Route 7, the project now sits fully completed.
The artists finished the 900-foot-long mural last week, Sabrina Godeski, director of Business Development and Tourism for Norwalk, confirmed. And the city of Norwalk will host an official reveal on Wednesday, Oct. 30, she said.
The background of the mural flashes a bright prink color palette and is covered in faint ferns and foliage. In between the bold "Welcome to Norwalk" letters are paintings ofcardinals, rabbits, jellyfish, humpback whales, oysters, harbor seals and other local wildlife.
Hundreds of Norwalk residents voted on the concept, color palette and wording of the mural over the summer. The $183,500 project was approved by the Common Council in August, despite criticisms among some residents and council members that the project didn't highlight the city's history and diversity enough. Others pointed out that two non-local artists were leading the project, though they were assisted by several Connecticut-based artists.
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The mural was installed by internationally renowned muralists Sonny Behan and Ernesto Maranje. Norwalk’s Arts and Culture Commission selected Behan and Maranje for their experience with creating large-scale and wildlife-based murals across the globe.
Behan, known as Sonny Sundancer, collaborates with the United Nations and international organizations to raise awareness for animal conservation through public art. The Los Angeles-based artist's murals of animals contain bold colors and both elements of realism and abstraction.
Ernesto Maranje, a Cuban-American artist based in Miami, has worked with various brands and organizations to create murals focused on biological evolution and plant and animal relationships, using acrylic and spray paint. He specialized in depicting birds, bears, apes and big cats, according to his website.
For the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural, five local artists were in charge of the prep work and painting the background, they told Hearst Connecticut Media. They used paint sprayer and large stencils to create the faint foliage seen behind the letters and animals, which were then painted by Behan and Maranje.
"It feels great to be part of such a big, important project and such a massive wall...you can't miss it," Stamford-based artist Byron Soza said. "I feel it was also a great idea and important to have local artists and other local creatives involved in the process."
Here, meet the local artists who helped bring the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural to life.
Byron Soza
Byron Soza specializes in video production and photography through his creative media company Alli Inka, a name that pays homage to his Ecuadorian heritage. The Stamford-based artist and D.J. creates videos for non-profit organizations and corporate companies, a skill he taught himself, he said.
His fine arts experience comes from assisting his wife and muralist Lauren Clayton, who also helped out with the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural. For their next potential project, they're planning a mural for the Stamford Train Station Parking Garage area, he said.
For the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural, Boza was in charge of video promotions and prep work, such as moving equipment and mixing the paint, he said. Boza said it's the biggest project he's worked on yet.
"There was never a quiet moment on that project, between cars, trucks, horns, generators, lifts...it was always busy work. But it's really fulfilling to see the end result," he said.
Emily Teall
A Riverside native and Norwalk resident, Emily Teall is a multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on oil paintings, installation art and sculptures with various types of material.
"Most recently, I've been using a wasp nest paper and my work is tied together with interest in nature," she said. "So, most of what I do kind of references some sort of natural symbolism."
With a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Cornell University, she currently works as the Education Coordinator at the Norwalk Art Space and was one of the first resident artists there in 2021, she said. Teall and local artist Jahmane West, another member of the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural team, are painting a bus stop mural with five students outside the Norwalk Art Space.
As a sculptor, Teall is interested in the process behind art projects and is proud to have that knowledge about the city's new mural.
"It's nice to be able to kind of know the back story of something going up," she said. "I can point at things and say that this was my friend, or this was me."
Jahmane West
Norwalk native and multi-disciplinary artist Jahmane West, who goes by only his first name in the art world, is a board member of the Norwalk Art Space and the owner of his studio, Art by Jahmane, in Bridgeport. He specializes in canvas, large-scale murals and sculptures, and he holds business and fine arts degrees from Norfolk State University in Virginia.
West said his love for art began during childhood.
"I started doing art way before school around the age of eight or nine... just sort of falling in love with graffiti. It's the art of the '80s," he said.
West's major Connecticut projects include a mural off Exit 26 on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport. He painted a building that flashes the word "Bridgeport" and painted the building to resemble a massive electronic music equalizer. Apart from several installations in Bridgeport, he painted the basketball court in Ryan Park, in Norwalk and created a patchwork walkway for the New Haven Arts District this summer. Now, he's part of a project that welcomes visitors to his hometown.
"The location (of the mural) is a major entry and exit point for Norwalk. I think it's going to be an iconic, monumental Norwalk mural, you know? Even do the little part that I did, I think it was a good thing to contribute," he said about being part of a project significant to his hometown.
Lauren Clayton
Born and raised in Stamford, artist Lauren Clayton now brightens up the city with her murals, two of which can be seen at Kiwanis Park in downtown Stamford. Through her Stamford-based boutique art and graphic design company, Studio 162, she has designed for Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich International Film Festival, Abilis and Pediatric Cancer Foundation, according to the company website.
Clayton, an alumna of Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, draws inspiration from the work of artist Paula Scher and from the bold color and symbolism of Frida Kahlo and Hundertwasser, according to her website.
Over the summer, she painted a mural on the pavement and on a wall inside the Bedford Street Garage. Her other Connecticut projects include large-scale murals in Norwalk in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I chose to be apart of (the "Welcome to Norwalk" mural) because I love painting murals and creating public art," Clayton said in an email. "Working with Ernesto and Sonny was an opportunity to learn from other artists on a really large scale project. I also got a chance to paint with my creative friends which is an added bonus."
Anderson "NR" Antonio
Peruvian artist Anderson Antonio moved to Norwalk two years ago and has been working as an independent artist, specifically painting pets.
He studied art in Lima, Peru, and has a bachelor's degree in communications, he said. His murals and small-scale paintings feature impressionist landscapes and reflect the Amazonian culture of Peru, Antonio said. He recently collaborated on the mural on Monroe Street in Norwalk with California-based artists MJ and Josh Lawyer, he said.
"That seems very important to me...to be able to show my culture on walls and public spaces. It means a lot that this city has the initiative to be able to invest in art," he said in Spanish.
The "Welcome to Norwalk" mural was a beneficial learning experience for him, considering the scale of the project, and he was able to observe Behan and Maranje's processes.
"It was very important to me to see the artists and being able to appreciate the process. For me, it's very important to see the process of the mural from beginning to end, learn the techniques and learn from each artist," he said.