by Doug Hickerson
“We are all a human community through Time.” – Bill Heyen
Main Street’s Lift Bridge Book Shop at 45 Main Street in Brockport has a mural above it, which is now ten years old, painted in August 2010. Worn by time and the elements, the image of the Canalside Village will be completely restored using modern painting and installation techniques. The mural is stunning as it covers the width of the store and extends to the top of the building. It is one of several works of public art that welcome visitors to Brockport.
The key role in the restoration is filled by regionally-known mural artist Stacy Kirby. She did the installation of “Welcome to Brockport” on the Main Street railroad bridge and the construction of the Barge Canal mural on the Department of Public Works Building. “Ms. Kirby will use updated mural techniques that will ensure the longevity of the beloved piece of public art,” according to grant literature.
The project is supported by an Erie Canalway IMPACT! Grant.
Lift Bridge Book Shop is owned by Sarah and John Bonczyk. The building is owned by Archie and Patty Kutz, who founded the book shop decades ago. In their letter of support for the grant application, the Bonczyks call the mural “a local landmark destination.” The Kutzes have also written a letter of support.
“The mural art is from The Erie Canal, a children’s book by Peter Spier, originally published by Doubleday and now kept in print by Herons Bend Productions,” Archie Kutz said. “The book’s story displays the lyrics of the well-known canal song, Low Bridge, Everybody Down, with many watercolor paintings.”
In addition to the IMPACT! Grant, matching funds are required to complete the project. A community fundraising effort will allow supporters of public art to contribute. An announcement from the Village of Brockport follows this article.
As a community project, the Village of Brockport DPW, directed by Harry Donahue, will install the completed mural panels.
“This is the first and largest of four canal-themed murals in the Village of Brockport,” said Village Mayor Margay Blackman. “For ten years, it has been an iconic work of public art; we look forward to its reinterpretation and restoration.”
Prolific poet and village resident, Bill Heyen, brings the mural into a broad time context. He said this at a formal dedication of the mural in November 2010 shortly after completion:
What I’d like for all of us as we drive Main Street, and as we park and walk and shop and visit over a cup of coffee or have dinner or go to a movie, is to be conscious, during our present, of the long continuum of villagers and students and business folks and shoppers who have intersected time and space here, who drove their buggies and Model A’s here and brought food to the market here and firewood and loaded and unloaded Canal vessels here and went to war from here. We are all a human community through Time. – Bill Heyen
The project has other grassroots support from Welcome Center Director, Susan Smith; Village Historian William Andrews; Town of Sweden Board Member and creator of Art Walks on Water, Lori Skoog. Also, letters of support were written by Mural Mania Founder, Mark DeCracker, and Brockport Board of Education President Terry Carbone.
Village of Brockport seeks community funding for mural restoration project
The Village of Brockport was awarded an Erie Canalway IMPACT! grant to restore the Erie Canal Mural on the facade of 45 Main Street, Brockport (the Lift Bridge Book Shop building). Originally installed in August of 2010, the artwork has failed to endure the ravages of weather and time. Stacy Kirby, artist, will reconstruct the mural on durable panels to be installed over the existing image, painted on the brickwork. When complete, the mural will join the collection of public art works currently owned and maintained by the Village of Brockport.
Grant funding provides $7,000 for the $14,000 project; the panels will be installed with $2,000 of in-kind service from the Village DPW. Installation is anticipated for the end of October.
That leaves $5,000 to come from other sources – an opportunity for the community to be part of this placemaking project.
The village invites you to consider a donation in the name of Bill Andrews, in honor of his 90th birthday this August. Bill has played a key role in establishing public art projects throughout Brockport and is unparalleled in his contributions to the historic preservation, interpretation, and understanding of our community.
The goal is to raise 90 donations of $50 or more, contributing to a project that exemplifies Bill Andrews’ Brockport spirit.
If interested, checks made payable to the Village of Brockport with “Mural Project 2020” on the item line can be mailed to 127 Main Street, Brockport, NY 14420. Donations of $100 or more will be recognized on the mural, if requested, on a scroll painted onto the lower left corner of the new mural installation. Any shortfall will be made up by the building owners, Archie and Patty Kutz.
Provided information
