COMMENTARY: About those Murals!

Above, Dean Bank President Kevin Goffe and artist Kayla Nisbet.
By Kayla Nisbet

Murals have a way of signalling care, culture and uniqueness. Murals also have a way of activating underused spaces, just like this once blank brick wall at Dean Bank on Franklin’s Depot Street.

As part of Dean Bank’s inaugural mural residency program sponsored by Franklin’s Cory Shea, Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, I designed and painted the first mural installment this past May.

Across a large mosaic pattern, the mural celebrates Franklin’s community, character, and charm. You’ll find Dean College, a straw hat as a nod to a once booming industry, kayakers paddling Beaver Pond, a twirl of pasta from The Rome, a porchfest duo, the town commons, the Red Brick School, the iconic Dean Bank clock tower, a Teddy Gallagher “cheersing” a Birchwood coffee moment, and a sleek typographic (and very poseable) backdrop of “Franklin, Mass: Great Since 1778”. Because this is a “sister mural” to the train station that I painted last fall, I used the same illustrations of the books from the station and displayed them in a horizontal stack with the same details as the original books donated by Ben Franklin. On top of the book stack is Kennedy, my name for the ladybug.

Above, Erin Gallagher pitches in...

In an unplanned happenstance, this mural truly embraced the theme of community when the Creative Corner’s Operations Director, Jenna Reilly created a street art theme in their after school curriculum. Kiddos painted their own version of their favorite place in Franklin in the same color palette and similar style. The students took a short walk over to the mural and they got to share their masterpieces with me. Lastly, knowing that friend and cofounder of the Children’s Museum of Franklin, Erin Gallagher, is a creative gal herself, I invited her to paint the museum’s square as an homage to our beloved children’s museum in Franklin. These unplanned additions truly made the mural come alive and celebrate the very concept that the mural is about in real time.

A very big thank you to Bank President Kevin Goffe and Senior Vice President Michael Carroll for their enthusiasm and support for the public arts. Now this space is a vibrant focal point that connects the train station to our commerce center in downtown Franklin. Stay tuned for my next mural at Dean Bank on their electrical box, coming this fall.

Kayla Nisbet is a Franklin resident and owner of Kayla Jean Creative, a creative studio in Franklin that specializes in logo and brand design, mural painting and design, and lifestyle photography for businesses, brands and families. To see more of her work, visit www.kaylajeancreative.com or @kaylajeancreative on instagram. This is Kayla’s 8th mural in Franklin.