44°
PEEKSKILL, N.Y. City artist Larry D'Amico spent most of the day Wednesday overseeing residents make a community art piece that replicates an old city postcard. D'Amico and his partner Sone Tower have recruited Peekskill locals to paint the mural that will take the place of the old Jan Peek Square sign across from the gazebo on North Division Street.
"We've had quite a few people so far," D'Amico said. "It's varied throughout the day, which is expected, and thats good. We've had a change of crew, maybe seven or eight people came and went, and I expect there will be more people on Saturday."
The 12-by-16 inch mural is comprised of 12 separate 4-by-4 inch squares that will later be combined. The painting sessions are taking place at the old library building located at 901 South St., which D'Amico and Tower converted to an art studio in 1993.
Tower, a watercolor artist who maintains her studio in the upstairs portion of the building, said the postcard image being replicated came from the collection of a city resident. "We loved it and we thought it would be great to have in the downtown area to show off Peekskill's history," Tower said.
The fountain shown in the postcard was once located in Depew Park but is long gone except for a couple of remnants near Mitchell Pond where it once sat on an island, the artists explained.
Peekskill resident and artist Terry Cadeaux was one of the painters who took part in the first mural painting session. She painted a portion of the mural where the angel fountain head is located.
"I feel very privileged to be part of it," Cadeaux said. "It's a nice feeling, and I'm a community person. It's nice to draw the artists into something together. Artists tend to be isolated sometimes."
The project is a partnership between Arts Westchester and the City of Peekskill, with help from the Field Library, and is being funded by an arts grant.
The first painting session was held Wednesday and the next session will be Saturday. The last two sessions will be on Dec.14 and 17 also from noon to 4 p.m.
Those looking to take part in the painting sessions must register by calling Sybil Canaan at the Field Library at (914) 737-7110 and must be an adult or a teenager with parent supervision. The image is pre-drawn and color-coded so even inexperienced painters can take part.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Peekskill and receive free news updates.
