On December 7th, we held our first hands-on activity to get the community mural started. Visitors at Stitches made 3″ squares that will be the border for the center panel (a Mariner’s Compass design) of a quilt-themed mosaic mural. We had participants of all ages, so the squares are stylistically very diverse. Some were made by experienced quilters who created intricate geometrical patterns from the glass tiles. Some were made by 5-year-olds with adult supervision, and are much more “abstract.” The beauty of it is that all participants will be able to come back years, even decades, from now and point to the square they made.

A 5-yr-old boy working on his square…

We held a raffle to pay for time and materials, and the winner was Katy, the owner of Blackbeard’s Brewery. She also made some squares, including this one, which took her half the day!

A Jolly Roger is very difficult i a 3″ square!

The next step is fundraising. Michele has been engaging local businesses, who are sponsoring the 12″ outside squares. (Each one will have a 1″ border as well, in keeping with the quilt-style.) Each sponsor will be acknowledged on a fused glass tile incorporated into a plaque installed below the mural, at eye level. $500-level sponsors will be in the largest font, then $100+ at a bit smaller size, then anyone donating over $50 will be listed in smaller font. Sizes will be determined at the end of the process to make sure everything fits legibly on an 18″ by 24″ plaque, along with a paragraph explaining how this mural was made by and for the Westport community. We’ll make sure to include sponsor info in any publicity, and plan to give each sponsor a photo of the completed project with a thank you that can be framed and hung on the wall. I also like to make photo books of projects like these, that will be available to order online.

This is our almost-updated design at this point. We have been responding to sponsor requests, and some of the squares will be changed to represent symbols more representative of Westport. The fish on top, for instance, will be a salmon. At this point, only 5 squares are left to sponsor, as response has been very enthusiastic!

These initial sponsorships will cover the cost of materials, allowing me to make an order in January so that we can start creating the rest of the mural. This will be a relatively controlled project, with individual participants creating each square. Many of the sponsors wish to mosaic their own square, and I will coach them through the process. Stitches will host at least one mosaic party this winter where participants will be able to sign up to make remaining squares (details TBA.) And I plan to engage students at the local high school to fill in the center panel. Once all of the sections are completed, I will welcome volunteers to help piece them together onto the tile board sections and grout the whole mural together.

This is Stitches, and you can see the Westport Jetty is right at the end of the block. The shop faces out on the Marina. The mural will be located on the side of this building, on the second story exterior wall, with the donor plaque installed below where it will be easy to read.

The timeline for this project will depend on fundraising and participation outcomes, so there’s no set installation date, but I really think it will be a smooth process and I hope to see it up this spring, before the tourist season begins. I recently created a budget for this project and the total we hope to raise is $7000. This will cover time, materials, travel, and installation. At least one local business plans to throw a fundraiser with live music, and I have a Go Fund Me already in place that is for community projects broadly, but I am happy to allocate your contribution specifically to this mural.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/jk-community-mosaic-projects Contact me: jennifer@jkmosaic.com for more info.

  • These girls did a great job!

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