Internationally renowned mural artist Caleb Neelon worked tirelessly in the blazing sun for 6 days starting as early as 6:30am and staying as late as 7:00pm on some days to complete the amazing piece of art that he painted on The Arc of Opportunity’s large blank canvas wall that is highly visible to all who drive or walk down Main Street in Fitchburg.
Caleb started with an enormous 16’ X 100’ white stucco wall that The Arc of Opportunity specially prepared prior to his arrival. Throughout the day, all stages of the transformation were caught on camera, from the first strokes to the final stroke of the day. Before the days end, Caleb had an unexpected visitor drop by to paint a few dots, Ed Emberley who is a well-known writer and illustrator of children’s books who inspired Caleb as a child to become an artist. By the end of day one, nearly the entire wall was covered with vibrant colors as the foundation of the scene was in place yet we still did not know the plan for the mural.
On day two of the project, Caleb picked right back up where he left off covering nearly the entire top half of the space with “dots” of paint, known as pointillism, a technique of painting where small distinct dots of color applied in patterns to form an image.
On day three, Caleb held a special one day workshop for community members to participate in the fun. Caleb graciously welcomed and instructed dozens of people supported by The Arc and their families, staff and people from the community to spray their own dots.
The final three days, Caleb spent touching up and adding details to what now is a beautiful piece of artwork. At the end of day six, Caleb signed the mural and titled it “That Was Fun…Let’s Do More!”
Whether you love it or hate it, this project brought an incredible amount of buzz, excitement and fun to downtown Fitchburg and joined together a community and continues to serve as a springboard for conversations about art and public art. This mural project was a true display of The Arc of Opportunity’s mission, which is to create and support lifetime opportunities in the community for individuals with disabilities and their families to reach their fullest potential by providing advocacy, education, employment, residential and recreational services to enhance quality of life.
This project was made possible through an Our Town grant for creative place making from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Arc of Opportunity was fortunate to partner with the City of Fitchburg, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg State University, and MART to bring Caleb to Fitchburg. Stay tuned for a celebration of the artwork in the fall!To view pictures of the entire process, go to www.arcofopportunity.org/mural-project.To read more about Caleb Neelon, internationally renowned artist and author, go to www.calebneelon.com.