Mural Unveiling Date is Sat. May 23 at 11am – All Invited!

This is it!  

Beacon will get a big splash of color on Main Street on Saturday May 23^rd – all courtesy of the Beacon Sloop Club and various other suppporters.  At 11am that morning our large and colorful River Beacons mural will be lifted into place and unveiled.

It’s an exciting moment and I hope to see many club members and city residents and supporters on hand to to celebrate.  A year in the making, the mural celebrates the Woody Guthrie’s 30^th anniversary in 2008 (she rides the foreground of the mural), Beacon’s river town heritage and lifestyle, and the statewide 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial.

Rick Price while putting the finishing touches to the mural has also been working with firends to construct a lightweight, welded portable frame to support the mural. All will be set for May 23. See you there!

We still have to raise $1500 to complete the cost or the frame and te art itself – please give a little.

Thanks, see you there,

 

Kevin

Last Push for Final $1500 – Donate Now

Only one thing is still needed – a further $1500.  We have raised several thousand dollars so far – mainly from grants – but we were expecting the last monies to come from the now frozen New York state Quadricentennial project assistance funds.

So we are making a last push. Please – if you can – make a small online donation of $5, $10 or $20 online to help us bridge the gap. Click on the Donate button at top to give.

Mural Gets Beacon City Nod

Rick reports that in April the mural went before the Beacon’s planning and architectural review boards s and got a thumbs up.  This was necessary as it is greater in size than traditional signage.

Fundraising Hits Snag – State Quadricentennial Project Assistance Frozen

This is rather unfortunate news to report. We had expected the last $3000 in funding for the mural to be part of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission’s funding for Beacon Quadricentennial projects. This list of projects had been developed by the Greater Beacon Quadricentennial Committee and recommended to the Commission. However, this funding is a victim of the heavy recession-driven state budget-cutting.

So we do face difficulty getting the final funds for the mural together. One of the final costs we have to be ready for is a lightweight, portable, welded frame that will attach the mural to the side of the River Winds Gallery wall.

We have been fortunate and are grateful to have received a mini-grant in 2008 of $500 from the Commission, and this may rise to $1000.

Mural Viewing Gets Good Crowd and Feedback

A boatload of folks turned up on a very windy Nov. to get their first look at the mural-in-progress. It was a pretty jolly scene in the old Beacon High School Gym with a very interested group of supporters, including local artists, Woody sailors and captains, and the inspiration himself, Pete Seeger.

A great outcome of the event for Rick was some feedback from Pete and Woody captains on the finer points of the Woody image. Pete can be seen sketching for Rick. In the next month Rick was able to work up a more accurate depiction of the sails and rigging.

Of course, folks huddled close to see all manner of other details in the painting, which also shows the Clearwater, the Half Moon and lots of Beacon details such as the waterfront farmers’ market, environmental education at Beacon Sloop Club festivals, alternative energy use at DIA, kayaking, folk singing, children from the Beacon Community Center painting river life, the Woody Guthrie and Clearwater coasting along, and the rainbow-hued River Pool.

Thanks for all your support. Keep the donations coming so we can get it up in the Spring.

Rick Shows the Mural-In-Progress – You Are Invited

Viewing of River Beacons – Mural for Main Street
 
Saturday, November 15, 4pm-5:30pm
 
In Rick’s Studio in the Old High School Gymnasium
Corner of Verplanck and Fishkill Avenues
 
Or call Kevin Haydon at 845 797-2976
kevin_haydon@yahoo.com

The mural-in-progress during the summer.