Banners on Bridge Street has opened for the fifth summer. Eight original hand-painted banners will hang through mid-October.
Participating artists include Gary Eckhart, Julia Purinton, Katie Babic, Beth Kendrick, Bette Ann Libby, Laurie Sigmund, Loida Alvarez, John Anderson, and Tommy O’Grady.
Materials featured are gesso, upcycled vinyl banners, discarded house paint and varnish.
There will be a meet the artists reception on Thursday, July 15, on Bridge Street from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Bette Ann Libby, artist and founder of Studios Without Walls, Brookline, MA, reclaimed the banners from their annual exhibition and sewed them to fit the Bridge Street lamp posts, collected the discarded paint and the artists too. The upcycled banners were sewn to fit the Bridge Street “antique” style lamp posts on a 1901 White Rotary Electric Sewing machine. Paint was collected from discarded house paint, Bisbee’s, hazardous waste days and community platforms.
A total of 34 artists have painted banners since 2021, including kids from Eddie Merma’s Sculpture School in Fayston.
Previous artists include:
Frankie Gardiner
Dotty Kyle
Dave Sellers
Keith Davidson
Jill McManus
Macy Moulton
Carl Bates
George Schenk
Avi Kendrick
Candy Barr
Rita Ionnodis
Gaelic McTigue
Carol Dallas
AnnMarie Harmon
Eddie Merma’s Sculpture School
Desi Dahlgren
Libby Schavone
Sophia Flint
Piper Weir
Bronte Richards
Molly Carpenter
Lila Marchetti
Clementine Barbiarz
Avah Hood
Maiana Mohr
