FLORENCE — A new mural coming to Florence aims to depict the history of the village, from the time when Native peoples held sway over the land, to its status as an abolitionist stronghold in the 19th century, to the arts community that nows calls the village home.
The Northampton Arts Council approved the mural last week, at the same meeting at which it approved plans for a huge mural on the outside of the Thornes Marketplace building, one that will feature two large raccoons and other images of fauna and flora.
The Florence mural is being created by artist Rochelle Shicoff, who splits her time between the Valley and New York City. She says she plans to enlist a number of other artists and community members to paint a 20-by-6-foot mural on the Florence Paint & Decorating building off North Maple Street near the Northampton Rail Trail.
Shicoff told the Arts Council board in a recent Zoom meeting that she hopes to enlist 35 to 40 painters of varying skill levels for the project beginning next April. She’s designed numerous other mural projects in several locations, both in Massachusetts and other states.
“I always get a lot of painters,” she said. “It’s sexy, and they want to paint.”
Shicoff’s initial design, which she created as a collage with a number of other people, was based on what she called “an incredible amount of research” into Florence history, including interviews with writers, historians, and Indigenous elders, as well as a review of various books, pamphlets and online sources.
The mural is slated to include historic figures such as Black abolitionists Sojourner Truth and David Ruggles, writer/abolitionist Lydia Maria Child, and several Native American women, as well as some significant buildings; there’s also depiction of the 1874 Mill River Flood.
Shicoff said the mural will segue into modern artistic and cultural landmarks in town, such as Zea Mays Printmaking and the Bombyx Center for Arts & Integrity; the latter is linked to the past since it’s located in the Florence Congregational Church, built in the 1860s by residents committed to ending slavery in the U.S.
Arts Council member Jesse Hassinger suggested Shicoff share her initial design with some of the Indigenous elders she had interviewed to get their feedback on how Native people will be depicted in the mural. Arts Council Director Brain Foote also told Shicoff he could connect her with some younger Indigenous artists to get their input as well.
Shicoff said she’d be happy to do all that, adding that she had received some initial grant money for the project from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and would seek some additional funding in the spring.
Arts Council Chair Danielle Amodeo thanked Shicoff for the project, saying she appreciated the outreach she’d made to Indigenous elders as part of telling the story. “I think this can be a wonderful project,” she said.