MADONNA’S EARTH
selected piece for Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition (WAARC) Community Mural Project in collaboration with Stowe Street Cafe & VT Peace & Justice Center.
May 2023 — August 2023
The Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition (WAARC) worked with Vermont-based artist, Raphaella Brice, who has designed a mural inspired by WAARC’s mission: to create a community where every person can fully experience freedom, belonging, and love on a daily basis. To pursue this vision, WAARC is committed to challenging racism at all levels, including interpersonal racism (both conscious and unconscious acts) and systemic racism (our local institutions and policies), while actively creating spaces and events that promote learning, inclusion, and freedom dreaming.
Public Art Team: Chiyomi McKibbin, MK Monley, Faith Bieler, Rachel Cadwallader-Staub, Nicole Grenier
Selection Committee: Nicole Grenier, Chiyomi McKibbin, Maroni Minter, MK Monley, Ashley Laporte, Tessa Yip
Marketing and Events Committee: Faith Bieler, Rachel Cadwallader-Staub, Caitlin Frauton, Brenda Hartshorn, Alayna Howard, Jo-Anne Smith, Emily Wood
Steering Committee: Mal Culbertson, Life LeGeros, Ashley Laporte, Erin Hurley, Maroni Minter, Marlena Tucker-Fishman, Dan Levy
We extend a huge thank you to Nicole and John Grenier (owners of Stowe Street Cafe) for offering their building as a site for “Madonna’s Earth.” For two years, the WAARC Public Art Team has been working to find a location to realize their goal of uplifting the voices of BIPOC artists with public art. Nicole and John’s generosity made it possible to turn this goal into action.
ABOUT THE PIECE “MADONNA’S EARTH”
“Madonna’s Earth” is a depiction of influence from the purest divine feminine in human history – the Black Madonna. The Black Madonna is a mystagogue, known all over the world as a great mystery, a powerful archetype of transformation, and mother of Jesus Christ. The Black Madonna is both a living reality and an archetypal embodiment of human behavior – she is both paradox and ambiguity. Through her loving acceptance of all of us, and valuing the interrelatedness of all life, the Black Madonna brings us to wholeness & stillness. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, her presence reminds us of the sacredness of life, the need for care, nourishing the earth, and ourselves, as evolving sentient beings. Growing up Haitian-Catholic has been a huge influence in how I see & interact with all walks of life, which inspired this piece.
The piece illustrates her pure love through providing shelter to peoples of all walks of life, who are peacefully standing or playing under her dress – inspired by a Haitian Vodou story from the book, “Nan Domi” by Mimerose Beaubrun.
"Madonna's Earth" | Original Vector Illustration | May 2023
CREATING MADONNA’S EARTH
dive into the creation process of this beloved community piece
CREATING MADONNA’S EARTH
“Madonna’s Earth” was created with Adobe Fresco, a vector & raster graphics editor app developed for digital painting.
Articles & texts of the Black Madonna, reference photos, such as fun character design examples and Christian imagery, were explored and utilized to illustrate the creative vision for “Madonna’s Earth.”
This piece was intentionally created to fit the fundamental needs of the community — freedom, belonging, and love to embody what it feels like to be held by the sacred & divine feminine, The Black Madonna.
PRODUCING MADONNA’S EARTH
PREPPING, SANDING, SCALING, & SKETCHING
The Technical Process:
peel off plastic wrap from each aluminum panel.
prep for paint application by sanding all 6 aluminum panels.
wipe aluminum residue off with alcohol to prep for sketching of “Madonna’s Earth” on all panels.
scale & split digital piece to fit 8x4 ft dimensions.
prep & scale projector to fit the dimensions of 8x4 ft panels.
sketch each part of mural piece onto 6 aluminum panels.
label each color block within piece in preparation for community painting & involvement.
“Madonna’s Earth" digitally scaled to fit 8x24ft mural project dimension; split to represent dimensions of the six 8x4ft panels
PREPPING WORKSPACE FOR COMMUNITY
Once the technical process was finished, all 6 panels were delivered to Maker’s Sphere (located across Ted’s Kar Kare) by Sammel Group in Waterbury, VT.
WAARC Members, MK Monley and Chiyomi McKibbin helped with administrative tasks, project management, organizing volunteer help, & prepping the makerspace for painting with necessary materials for painting “Madonna’s Earth.”
We extend gratitude to Maker’s Sphere for allowing the team to use their space. Thank you!
PAINTING MADONNA’S EARTH
Following the technical, community organizing, & project management process, WAARC & raph were ready to invite Waterbury residents to paint “Madonna’s Earth.” Let’s just say, folx were ecstatic to participate in the birthing process of this profound piece!
first day of painting Madonna’s Earth!
raph painting one of the center panels.
FINISHING MADONNA’S EARTH
Posca Markers were used to add small, finishing details. Afterwards, all 6 painted panels were sealed with polycrylic and anti-graffiti coating.
Thank you Waterbury for helping midwife “Madonna’s Earth” to the physical realm.
SEALING THE MADONNA
