The time has come!

Starting this weekend (!!), construction on a new mural in Kirkland Ave will take place! A large, colorful, sweeping mural will adorn the Downtown Sounds wall. This public art piece is sure to brighten up Kirkland Ave, as well as breathe new life into Northampton's public art scene.

Ebenezer (Eben) Kling, a recent Northampton transplant from the outskirts of Boston, is the mural artist. Eben, in collaboration with Haley Morgan and Julia Handschuh from C3, and Joe and Barbara Blumenthal, who own Downtown Sounds, have designed a unique, site-specific mural that captures the seen and unseen, the imagined and the visible, and the past, present, and future. To get an idea of what the piece will look like, here is some of Eben's previous work. In order to see the real thing, however, you'll have to take a walk through Kirkland Ave yourself!

We anticipate completing the mural mid-October, and will celebrate it's official unveiling with a party. More details on this happening coming soon.

You can be a part of this awesome project! We need help painting! We will be holding community painting parties (woo-hoo!) where you can drop in and lend a hand. No experience necessary! A list of painting party dates are as follows. Check back often for additional dates and times! Or sign up with Groundcrew for text-message reminders! Or shoot us an email and we'll keep you in the loop: haley@commonwealthcenter.org.

Tuesday, Sept 22nd evening
Saturday, Sept 26th noon-evening
Saturday, October 3rd noon-evening

We will continue selling Golden Bricks for $10 a piece to raise money to cover costs, upkeep, and a stipend for Eben! Help support this awesome project and donate today! Or tomorrow! Or both! A gift of $10 or more comes with a bonus: Your name or words of your choosing will be embedded into golden bricks that will be painted beneath the mural. YES!

*Check out Eben Kling's other current collaborative Northampton art project, Papergirl. So cool.