Community Art Making – Mural for E.J Gare Parking Garage

This Saturday’s Grow Food Northampton Farmer’s Market is extra special. Join in free visual artmaking for all ages from 10 am-2 pm. This art workshop is an opportunity for community members to share input for a future mural that will be installed on Northampton’s E.J. Gare Garage, on the plaza where the Tuesday Market happens. 

The future mural will be installed this May and include a community paint party on Saturday, May 13th, where the public will be invited to help paint the mural. The lead designer and muralist on the project is Sharon Leshner. Sharon is a community-based public artist and founder of The Color Collaborative, a mural initiative, and local shared artist studio space. Sharon is teaming up with a local street artist named SELF to create the new mural. 

As an exercise in place-keeping, this project is meant to revitalize the location of the Northampton Farmer’s Market and create opportunities for current farmers, shoppers, and folks who may not otherwise attend the market to feel a sense of ownership and participation in this space. One of the goals of this project is to spread the word about HIP/SNAP to more community members experiencing food insecurity and to create opportunities for them to feel welcome at the market. This goal will be helped through coordination with Community Action and Grow Food Northampton.

This project is organized and supported by The Color Collaborative, The City of Northampton Paradise City Cultural District, Grow Food Northampton and Community Action Pioneer Valley.