BERLIN – Attendees at this year’s Berlin Peach Festival will have the chance to add their touch to the town mural.
During the Aug. 5 festival at the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum, artist John Donato and members of the Berlin Arts and Entertainment Committee will be inviting the public to help paint the third panel of the mural currently on the wall of the town’s welcome center. Like the first two portions of the mural, the panel featured at the peach festival will depict an array of colorful images associated with Berlin.
“The third phase, we want to start at the peach festival because the museum represents such rich history of Berlin,” said Robin Tomaselli, a member of the Berlin Arts and Entertainment Committee. “The mural is going to tell a story. It made sense to start it there.”
The Berlin Arts and Entertainment Committee first came up with the concept of a public art mural in 2015. Tomaselli and other committee members worked with Donato to develop a plan for a multi-panel mural that could be hung on the blank northern wall of the welcome center.
Because each panel costs $5,000, the mural is being completed one panel at a time, as funds are raised. The first was painted by Buckingham Elementary School students while the second was painted by children at Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services. Tomaselli is hoping to generate interest in the project from a new crowd by featuring the latest mural panel at the peach festival.
“We’re hoping that’s going to create a lot of interest in the mural project,” she said. “The museum was very excited about doing it.”
Though painting of the panel will start at the peach festival, it will be completed in September at a community pot luck dinner at the Germantown School. Tomaselli says that on Sept. 16, organizers are inviting citizens from throughout Berlin to the historic school for an evening of art, music and camaraderie.
“The arts and entertainment committee is not only committed to arts and entertainment, we feel it’s also our responsibility to be good stewards of our community,” Tomaselli said. “To be community builders.”
She added that by featuring the mural panel at two events, one on each side of Route 113, the committee was hoping to bridge the gap between the two sides of Berlin.
“We’re not asking for anything from anybody,” Tomaselli said. “We’re just reaching out to the community and inviting them to break bread and if they want to bring a dish that’s wonderful.”
The evening will also feature a gospel revival in honor of Charles Albert Tindley. Bryan Russo, a Berlin musician, and choirs from several area churches will perform together.
Russo is thrilled to bring attention to Tindley, a minister who was born in Berlin and is considered one of the founding fathers of gospel music.
“There’s a lot of people with no idea the godfather of gospel music was born here,” Russo said. “Tindley’s story has been at best a footnote to what the region understands and embraces.”
For Russo, who spent years trying to find funding to produce a Tindley documentary, the Sept. 16 event is a chance to renew his commitment to the effort.
“I’ve been frustrated with not being able to get the project off the ground,” he said. “This is a way to take that first step and get it going.”
Tomaselli is convinced that featuring the mural at the Taylor House Museum and the Germantown School—two of the town’s most important historic sites—will inspire community togetherness and at the same time will bring attention to Tindley and his contributions. She pointed out that it was Calvin B. Taylor who taught Tindley to read in the 1800s.
“It’s giving me chills,” she said. “When you sit down with both of these groups you realize how intertwined both sides of town have always been. The connections between the Taylor House and the Germantown School go back to its very beginning.”
The mural will be set up for painting at the peach festival from 1-4 p.m. Aug. 5. On Sept. 16, it will be set up at the Germantown School from 4-7 p.m. Those who want to attend Sept. 16 are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket or chairs and a dish to share.
