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Box 212 Monroe, CT 06468
(Return to index) by Nancy Zorena Almost 25 years ago, artist David Merrill spent a year and a half planning and painting a mural in a section of Masuk High School's library. He worked at the school from September 1981 until the dedication in the spring of 1983. The Masuk students and teachers who were there in the early 80's will remember watching Mr. Merrill paint the 29-foot wide historical mural of Monroe. Often students stopped to view the mural in progress and many spoke to the artist. One girl was particularly sad one day and told David of the loss of her pet horse. He asked her for a photograph of her horse and painted it on the mural. With a map of the town as a centerpiece, the mural contains 52 views of Monroe, most of which depict a bygone era of country stores, working farms and open fields. The town's greens, churches, schools, early homes, and old barns are depicted in the four seasons. David included aerial views of the Stepney Green, which he photographed in a friend's hot air balloon in preparation for his mural. The artist, who was born and raised in Monroe, is a descendent of many generations who have lived in town. David chose to paint 52 views in his mural to represent the 52 Americans who were held captive in Iran while he was painting the mural. Before painting the mural of old Monroe, he painted murals in the Southbury Town Hall and at Edmund Town Hall in Newtown. Several groups in Monroe helped raise over $10,000 to make the mural a reality, including members of the Masonic Lodge #19 who installed an iron railing in front of the mural. Masuk's Industrial Arts teachers Joe and Douglas Fedorko and their students framed the mural. A detailed description of the scenes in the mural is framed and located nearby which gives credit to all who helped make the mural possible. David included Hubbard's Quarry, which was located on the west side of Barn Hill Road. At one time it did a thriving business of quarrying granite that was used in some area churches and homes. The granite was shipped as far as Charleston, South Carolina for the building of Fort Sumter. David painted the mural for his hometown without the usual commission he receives for area town murals. He dedicated it to his former teacher, friend and mentor, the late Miss Besse Smick. She was his second grade teacher at Monroe Elementary School. Miss Smick, who later served as the principal of Stepney School, came from her retirement home in California to celebrate the completion of her former student's mural. When David won his first of many awards for an earlier painting, Miss Smick bought that painting and continued to commission him to paint numerous paintings over the years. The early 80's was not the first time that David was here to help the town of Monroe. In 1972, the old Town Hall, town hall annex and brick library were about to be replaced by the present Town Hall/Library complex. Town resident and Post Reporter, Jean Loveland, a long time Historical Society Board member, called David Merrill in Maine, where he was living at the time, and begged him to come and paint a picture of these historic buildings. Monroe officials commissioned him to do the painting. He worked twelve hours a day, six days a week to finish in one month, before the wrecking ball. He says he had a lot of energy then. The painting is displayed prominently in the Town Hall, and numbered and signed prints can be purchased from the Monroe Historical Society by calling 261-1383 and leaving a message. The hometown artist appreciates the work done by the Monroe Historical Society that has limited means and three buildings to maintain and uses the funds raised from the sale of David Merrill prints to maintain its buildings and collections. Trained at Danbury State College and the Artist School of Westport, David's love of New England inspires his paintings, capturing a nostalgic view of rapidly disappearing features of old Monroe and other historic towns. His paintings of woods, meadows, brooks, stonewalls, barns, and historic homesteads reveal a serenity of things made old by time and the elements. He has also painted a series of lighthouses and UCONN barns and buildings. There are some concerns about the condition of the Monroe mural. Over time, settling cracks have damaged parts of it. Plans are in the works to have David repair it. Presently, David is painting a large, plastic cow with scenes of Massachusetts on it for the Massachusetts Tourism Board. His cow will be one of 125 hand-painted cows that will be all over Boston in the summer. He has recently completed a painting for a private family of the Newtown High School Band marching in the Labor Day Parade. A Newtown version of the game Monopoly will have a copy of this painting on the cover of the game box. Credits: Archives, Monroe Historical Society, Mural Directory located next to the mural at Masuk High School's library. This article was printed on 04/19/2006 in volume 2, issue 16 Previous article Next article |
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