Recognizing the ground-breaking achievements of black suffragists, The Women's Mural Project aims to capture and elevate the stories of Black women in Englewood, NJ as a way to to celebrate their voices and accomplishments and promote civil discourse within the community and in greater Bergen County. A professional muralist will be selected through an open call to paint and design the mural with content input from the Black community. The location of the mural will be on the east-facing wall of the Women's Rights Information Center (WRIC) on Palisade Avenue which is in the center of one of the County’s most heavily trafficked downtowns. The central location will help to generate pride of place and a sense of connection and belonging to the downtown and community-at-large.
All partners -- The Women’s Rights Information Center (WRIC), Metro Community Center, Woman’s Club of Englewood, a cultural preservationist, and historian and writer, Penny Colman -- are steeped in Englewood history and the BLM and Women’s Movements. The artist will be selected for high artistic quality, experience working on large scale murals, and the ability to work closely with BIPOC community members using a collaborative creative process to translate community input into public art.
Black women-residents of Englewood will be invited to participate in the mural design process. Two workshops at the WRIC will be led by the cultural preservationist and Ms. Colman, both Englewood residents . Participants will learn about the history of Black suffragists from Ms. Colman, author of The Vote: Women's Fierce Fight, the story of the battle for women’s suffrage in America. The cultural preservationist, an international consultant advocating for Black cultural heritage, will facilitate participants’ discussion of their thoughts, opinions, and challenges, relating the journey of the Black suffragists to their personal experiences. Sharing stories and perspectives will capture community vision and imagery for the mural. The finished work will be a reflection of Englewood women's cultural values, histories, and voices.
Englewood needs more public art, escpecially art created with community involvment such as collaborative murals! Public art beautifies the city, offers interesting anchors of expression and culture, and can serve to bring the community together around important issues. Help us meet our goal to implement this timely and relevant project in Englewood!
