New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
By Joyce Rowley
This summer the City of New Bedford solicited local artists for sidewalk mural designs to commemorate the September 11, 2001 attacks. Four designs were selected from local artists Ron Fortier of UMass Dartmouth, Cate Nichols of Mosiacate, James Mitschmyer, and ArtWorks! staff Deb Smook, Cyndi Wish and Alicia Moretti.
Katie Hauswirth, who spearheaded the idea, said that the City welcomes other submissions for the 12 other schools in the district. “This will be an ongoing project for the schools.”
“Many of the children that see these murals were not born at the time of the attacks,” said Hauswirth. The designs were chosen to inspire reflection on the events of September 11 and its aftermath.
The designs are as varied as the artists who envisioned them.
Ron Fortier, professor of Art at UMass Dartmouth, will use active stain in the concrete to create his mural. The working title of the piece is “Tolerance Cannot be Defeated.” As he describes it:
“The people, as represented by the hands of Americans of all races, are on a field of golden yellow symbolizing the warm light of unity. Blue, the predominant color, is a reminder of the crystal clear morning of 9-11-01 that was suddenly and violently shattered. The three crash sites (New York, Washington and Pennsylvania) are represented equally. At the foot of the piece, 09-11-01 and 09-11-11 commemorates the ten year anniversary juxtaposed with the time each airliner crashed.”
ArtWorks! Education and Outreach Director Deb Smook, Executive Director Cyndi Wish and Artists Market Coordinator Alicia Moretti will use scrap metals, new ceramic mosaic to form a dove with an olive branch. ArtWorks! Partners for the Arts and the Community is a non-profit community arts center located at 384 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford.
Cate Nichols of Mosaicate, designed a tile mosaic dedicated to the 411 emergency service personnel lost that day. A red and white heart-shaped mosaic made of bits of ceramic hearts, leaves, and gems will abut blue Twin Towers containing the dates 9-11-01 and 9-10-11.
James Mitschmyer’s design uses religious icons interspersed with symbols of war on five hand-made ceramic stepping stones. Progressing along the stones the symbols of war fade as the symbols of peace become more prominent.
According to his narrative, “The religious icons, in my proposal, symbolize power and compassion. The dominant colors of the tiles being red white and blue are meant to strike a sense of patriotism and community. I include military images with the intent of honoring those men and woman who sacrifice so much so we can live in a safe free society as Americans. By making the finished form a steppingstone I hope to instill a feeling of moving forward towards a place of peace and prosperity.”
You can watch the murals being installed on September 3, 2011 at the following locations:
9:00 a.m. James Mitschmyer at Roosevelt Middle School on the Frederick Street side.
9:30 a.m. ArtWorks! At Gomes Elementary School on the west side of the building near entrance.
10:00 a.m. Cate Nichols, Parker Elementary School on the County Street sidewalk across parking lot from entrance.
10:30 a.m. Ron Fortier at Hayden McFadden Elementary School, south side of building directly in front of entrance.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Ron Fortier is currently a professor of Art at UMass Dartmouth, after teaching advertising and marketing at the Charlton College of Business, UMass Dartmouth. He received a BFA at SMU (UMass Dartmouth’s precursor), and a MFA from the University of Miami. He is a member of Gallery X.
Cate Nichols was born in New Bedford and earned her BA in English/Communications from UMass Dartmouth. She has seven years experience in mosaics and is a Gallery X member. She resides in New Bedford. Mosaicate is her online studio at www.etsy.com/shop/Mosaicate.
James Mitschmyer has a BFA from Maine College of Art in 2005. He has been a ceramic instructor and studio manager at the Sharon Arts Center in Sharon, New Hampshire. This fall he will be attending UMass Dartmouth School of Visual and Performing Arts on a graduate assistantship.
ArtWorks! Partners for the Arts and the Community is a non-profit community arts center located at 384 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford. Three galleries and an artists’ market showcase local artists. Classes and outreach programs bring the artists into the community. Find out more about the programs and artists at www.artworksforyou.org.
Katie Hauswirth relocated recently from Detroit. This past summer she was an intern in Mayor Scott Lang’s office and proposed the idea as a commemorative activity for September 11. Ms. Hauswirth is now the Assistant Principal for Nativity Preparatory Middle School on Spring Street, New Bedford, MA.
