Mural Dedication – First United Methodist Church
We recently dedicated the most recent mural project completion at the First United Methodist Church’s building at the corner of Wood Street & 7th Street. This mural is the fourth mural completed under our Urban Canvases On The Ave initiative to bring more public art installations to our downtown district. Our public art projects, however, are not just limited to murals. With the recent temporary installation of Sculptures On The Ave project of the six Seward Johnson sculptures scattered along the downtown blocks, we have seen how art can stimulate conversations and pique interest with people both within our community as well as with those outside our community who come to enjoy the arts.
Our Sounds for Sculpture concert, with the Christian Tamburr quartet, was also held at the Landis Theater to bring music, along with visual, physical, or tangible art to the forefront of what we mean when we discuss “public art”. Main Street Vineland, through its Design Team and with the financial support of the Cumberland County Cultural & Heritage Commission and the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) grants allows us to do these projects with no cost to our organization or our citizens. We have some exciting plans for 2024’s public art initiatives, so stay tuned.
But let’s turn back to the Eco Tree –Tree Of Life mosaic and painted mural that was just completed and dedicated at the First United Methodist Church (FUMC). Like all such projects, these just don’t happen overnight. From the planning stages of the design to the implementation, there are a lot of people involved in making this happen. We started with meetings at the Church with the then pastor, Yeika Huertas, Church board members and members of the Church, volunteers, our muralists—Brian Hawk and David Woods, VDID members & volunteers, and our grantors. Once everyone agreed on the design and construction elements it was time for our muralists to get to work.
This vision started with my conversations with Brian, who has been in the flooring business for forty years at various local flooring companies. He has salvaged leftover tiles and glass from jobs he has done and tiles from discontinued sample boards which he repurposes and uses for mosaic murals. This repurposing of tiles and glass keeps them from ending up in landfills and speaks to the Eco Tree idea that Brian had. He has been working his craft for years and was ready to expand his pallet by using the entire two-story wall at the back of the Church.
Brian solicited help from his friend David Woods who, like Brian and myself, has a personal connection with the FUMC. David teaches art in Philadelphia and has been involved in many murals and other art projects in the area. Brian and David spent countless evenings and weekends working hard on the mosaic portion of the mural, David brought in two other artists from Philadelphia to help with the paint portions of the mural—Eurhi Jones and David McShane. Rusty Parrish also graciously loaned our muralists a lift in order for them to complete their work which is greatly appreciated. The finished mural is really a breathtaking work of art that will grace our downtown for many years to come.
Our dedication ceremony was well attended last with over 35 people in attendance at the Church and was hosted by Pastor Jin Oh. The appreciation and admiration for this fine piece of art were evident in all those who attended. “It was really a fantastic opportunity and we felt the love of the Vineland community throughout the process and especially felt the warmth of the community on the very cold day of the dedication” stated David Woods. Refreshments were provided by the Spirit and Truth Ministries.
