Page 7 - Downtown Newark

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
Back in the United States, she worked with artist James Dupree in his Philadelphia studio and gallery. The City of Brotherly love embraces public art, and murals are evident in most neighborhoods. “I wanted to do something like that in my own hometown,” she says.
Like many muralists, Czerwinski often seeks the public’s input. During Newark’s Community Day in 2014, she put up a billboard announcing the Wonderland project, which includes album covers. Which Delaware artists would they include? From their answers she selected the most popular musicians, including Clifford Brown, The Sin City Band, Love Seed Mama Jump, jazz singer Cab Calloway and Bob Marley, who lived in Wilmington during the 1970s.
For inspiration for the birds on the side of Panera Bread, she looked at the Tristate Bird Rescue’s website. She was also inspired by a visit to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge. “I like to add a natural element in town where you don’t find it normally,” she says. The bumblebees’ appearance on the side of Home Grown Café draws attention to the declining bee population.
Each mural takes up to a month to complete, depending on the weather.
Czerwinski gets help from up to four artists at a time. (Look in the mural’s corner to see the names of the artists who worked on the project.)
For her next mural, she’s considering the wall behind the National 5 & 10.
“I have an idea, and I’m continuing to look for funding,” she says. The murals cost from $500 to $5,000 depending on the work involved and the size of the
Czerwinski works on a mural at Home Grown Café.
space. In addition to her own fundrais- ers, she might receive support from a building’s owner. Or, the landlord may split the cost with the business. Those who’d like to contribute can visit idol- hands.org.
Czerwinski’s mission is to do more than beautify an alley or the side of a building. “I hope,” she says, “that [people] see it as a reason to smile.”
MAY 2017 I www.DelawareToday.com I N7