Civil rights murals, to be unveiled Juneteenth across Connecticut, celebrate heroes of the fight for equality

Juneteenth has just become a federal holiday, but Connecticut cities have been honoring it for decades with community celebrations. This year Juneteenth — which commemorates the end of legalized slavery in the United States in the 1860s — will be especially grand in five Connecticut cities, where giant murals have been created this week. The mural unveilings come with their own ceremonies and Juneteenth observances.

The five murals will feature a number of different faces — John Lewis, Harriet Tubman, poet Amanda Gorman, President Barack Obama and Connecticut’s Rep. Tammy Exum, among others. But for all, the message is one to match the day: a celebration of each community’s diversity and of the civil rights leaders who have pushed for change.

The murals, in West Hartford, Bloomfield, New Haven, Torrington and Manchester, were organized by CT Murals together with community partners, and feature words and people selected by residents.

“It’s about community, it’s about coming together. The whole point of Juneteenth is jubilation and freedom,” said Adrienne Billings-Smith, an organizer of the West Hartford event.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans learned they had been freed, about two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

“Our piece is a journey of the African American community through West Hartford’s eyes,” Billings-Smith said. The portraits of figures spanning from Harriet Tubman to the beloved local storyteller Gertrude Blanks, who died in 2019, were chosen for the breadth of history they cover. “We wanted to pay homage to these individuals who brought us here and who are speaking for us now.”

In just one city, Torrington, a white face appears in one of the murals, that of John Brown, a Torrington native who abandoned peaceful abolition to fight for the end of slavery by any means necessary. Many of the more than 100 survey responses from Torrington residents called for Brown to be featured in the mural.

“John Brown is beloved figure, we’re very proud to have him,” said Steph Burr, executive director of Northwest Connecticut Arts Council. “But it also was a signal to white allies that this isn’t just a movement that needs to be executed by people of color. This is everyone’s movement to help work toward equity.”

Ben Keller, who worked on the Torrington mural, felt the support of the community as he worked. “They’re so excited this is happening. Everybody’s like ‘Oh my god, this is so cool!’ There’s a lot of positivity. This mural is definitely making a statement.”

Burr agreed. “Everyone is excited about it – it’s definitely started the conversation about race in good ways and bad,” she said.

The five murals to be unveiled on Juneteenth are the first batch of a projected 39 — a number chosen for the age Dr. King was when he was assassinated in 1968. The goal is to have all 39 murals done by Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2022.

The unveilings will take place hourly between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Juneteenth. The unveilings will also be streamed on Facebook Live. Details are at facebook.com/CTmurals or ctmurals.org.

New Haven

The unveiling: June 10 at 10 a.m., on an outside wall of the Five Star Laundromat, 350 Washington Ave., New Haven

The artists: Isaac Bloodworth and Kyle Kearson, plus a separate mural by Isaac Bloodworth.

Who’s in the mural: Coretta Scott King, with text from a poem by New Haven writer/activist Sun Queen. The second mural, on a different wall of the laundromat, is a cartoon triptych with a literacy message, featuring New Haven artist/puppeteer Isaac Bloodworth’s original character Joy da Black Boi.

Sponsors include: The Hill Neighborhood Groups, New Haven Free Public Library, and City of New Haven Dept. of Arts, Culture and Tourism.

Bloomfield

The unveiling: June 19 at 11 a.m. on a wall of the Alvin and Beatrice Human Services Facility, 370 Park Ave., Bloomfield.

The artist: ARCY. The muralist lives in New Haven but often travels to create his murals, including artwork for the Disney company. “I’m constantly getting called away from my home state. It’s so nice to be able to work here.”

Who’s in the mural: Barack Obama, Anika Rose [the Bloomfield native turned Hollywood and Broadway star], Martin Luther King Jr., Dwight Freeney [the NFL defensive end and Bloomfield High School grad] and Kamala Harris.

Sponsors include: Town of Bloomfield, Department of Leisure Services, and Painting with a Twist.

Manchester

The unveiling: June 19 at noon on the Leisure Lab side of the Mahoney Recreation Center, 110 Cedar St., Manchester. Three new murals join one that was completed in January.

The artists: ARCY, Ben Keller and Corey Pane. The Vernon-based Keller is the one who originally painted King on the wall earlier this year. “At that time, doing 39 murals wasn’t even the plan,” he says. For the new murals, ARCY, Pane and Keller each got a section of the wall to paint.

Who’s in the mural: John Lewis, Harriet Tubman, and local activist Dr. Diane Claire-Kearney, director of Equity and Adult Education at Manchester Adult and Continuing Education.

Sponsors include: Manchester’s Department of Leisure, Family, and Recreation, Manchester Arts Commission, Juneteenth Celebration Committee.

Torrington

The unveiling: June 19 at 1 p.m., 42 Water St., Torrington, the building that houses WAPJ Radio.

The artist: Ben Keller and local Torrington artists have been at work since last week. “The weather has definitely been an issue,” he said. “It was rain on and off.”

Who’s in the mural: Martin Luther King, poet Amanda Gorman (who read at President Biden’s inauguration ceremony) and legendary 19th century abolitionist John Brown, a Torrington native. “The people on here definitely stirred some culture up back in the day,” muralist Ben Keller said, “and some still are.”

Sponsors include: Northwest CT Arts Council and Our Culture is Beautiful.

West Hartford

The unveiling: June 19 at 2 p.m., 20 South Main St., West Hartford, along an entire side of Noah Webster Library in Blue Back Square.

The artist: Corey Pane, who’s also involved in the Manchester mural. “When we did our first mural in 2015,” said CT Murals’ Matt Conway, “it was with Corey Pane. We’ve done a ton together since then. He’s a core member of the group.”

Who’s in the mural: Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bernard Lafayette (King’s former strategist, who is associated with the Connecticut Center for Nonviolence), state Rep. Tammy Exum, local activist and former Town Councilor Judy Casperson, 1960s civil rights organizer Ella Baker and historian/storyteller Gertrude Blanks, who was the first African-American graduate of West Hartford’s Hall High School.

Sponsors include: The Town of West Hartford, Concerned Parents of Color, Unity Green Committee, West Hartford African American Social and Cultural Organization, Kingswood Oxford School, and the Cantor Family.

Kaitlin McCallum contributed to this story. Christopher Arnott can be reached at carnott@courant.com.