Cortland Corset Company Mural & Restoration

In order to engage my hometown community through the arts, I created a public mural project where anyone from the community could join in and participate in the creation of the work. The design was inspired by Cortland’s rich industrial history focusing on the Cortland Wagon Company and the Cortland Corset Company that use to reside in the building, some of which no longer stands, along with its current identity as a growing creative hub for artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs. The theme is Victorian Steampunk, a marriage between old and new, creating a visual of a strong, beautiful woman.

I created all promotional materials including flyers, posters, stickers, pins, and hand-pulled screen-printed t-shirts with the assistance of Eric Earley of Stoked Clothing Co. The mural project was funded by a CNY Arts Decentralized Grant for Individual Artists 2018 and a local crowdfunding effort. After months of planning, coordinating volunteers, and 60 hours of painting, “Grace” was completed and unveiled on September 29th, 2018.

Artist Statement: I was inspired by Grace Brown’s story and married that with my love for Steampunk and overall interest in local history. It is a representation of both all women in the textile industry of the past as well as a character to represent the creative hub the building has become. It is titled simply “Grace” both in name and for the definition of the word. I enjoy hearing people’s stories about the Cortland Corset Building and other historical events and stories as well as their experiences with this evolving space.

Cortland Corset Building Showcase

As a tenant of the Cortland Corset Building, I participated in the planning of the Cortland Corset Building Showcase. My contribution to the event was to organize the Cortland Creative Collective art exhibition by putting out an open call to artists to begin to locate and celebrate the local creative community in a new way. I designed the flyers and posters for the event which were also printed in What’s Hot magazine. I also created and promoted the Cortland Corset Company Mural & Restoration project which was unveiled at the event on September 29th, 2018. This free, public event drew a crowd of 200-600 people over the course of the night with over 50 people attending the unveiling of the mural. Eric Earley of Stoked Clothing Co. and I live screen printed a limited run of prints of “Grace” exclusively for the event.

Check out the process from start to finish including in-progress photographs and videos:  www.facebook.com/cortland.corset.company.mural.and.restoration

Press:

Cortland Standard: "Telling a Story" with a Mural

Cortland Standard: Arts and Wine Fest a Tastemaker

Cortland Standard: An Inspring Canvas