HARTFORD, Conn. — At 170 feet tall and 60 feet wide, the mega mural named “Reawakening Wonder” has been completed by artist Michael Rice and his talented team.
The mural that has filled up the entire southern façade of the Millennium Apartment building at 50 Morgan Street took Rice seven weeks to finish – on time and on budget which was $100,000.
"The work features a local child named Sam (Gonzalez) from East Hartford and it is meant to inspire hope, a sense of wonderment and kind of reawaken that inner child that lays dormant inside all of us as we grow older," said Rice.
The mural is a collaboration between the Greater Hartford Arts Council and RiseUp for Arts – a statewide non-profit that promotes inclusion and accessibility through public art projects.
"We hope this is just the catalyst, the start of so much more (art projects) to come down the pipeline,” said Matt Conway, the executive director of the RiseUp Group.
In the shadow of the mural, Governor Ned Lamont, joined Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin and U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal to celebrate the official dedication of “Reawakening Wonder”.
"It’s like a dream for any muralist to be in a location where it gets that much exposure, so I just feel incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity," Rice said. "More importantly, I hope that the people of Hartford can take something from this – that it brightens their day.”
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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