Some History: (Posted 9/15/2018)

Francesca with a group of students at SPARK!

Francesca Rosati, our Visual Arts Intern for the summer of 2018, is a Seattle native and Senior at the Rhode Island School of Design where she is completing her Bachelors Degree in Fine Art in Painting. Last semester she studied in Rome.

While here in Springville she worked on a variety of programs including a weekly workshop with a focus on public art called Public Art Corps (PAC). The PAC installed a project at Heritage Park, the Spray Park, in the M&T Park on Mechanic Street, and on a fence along the local rail trail.

Thank you to Slippy’s Collision, 137 Eaton Street. Springville for use of their fence!!!

Another workshop Francesca lead was called Eat the Arts Center, a sculpture class where students created monsters to adorn the center’s yard. As a preview of this class, Francesca created “Octobryan”, a colossal project that morphed into yet more public art. Octobryan perched on the center’s front stairs for the entire summer, and sparked much attention from the community. #Octobryan

In addition to the many workshops, she oversaw a team of United Way volunteers and they implemented a group of mini-murals (designed by her) as part of United Way’s Day of Caring. These are spread out around the village, are connected by theme, and create interest for the community.

Francesca describes her inspiration as: “The murals here were inspired by Springville’s bustling town scenes, it’s luscious agriculture, Americana influences and of course it’s history. I looked at American folk art, WPA mural artists- such as Diego Rivera, some contemporary mural artists- such as HENSE. I looked at Illustrators: Maira Kalman, Charley Harper, Richard Scarry, and Miroslav Sasek. I was constantly referencing historical images of Springville and Erie County and my own photography of Springville.”

These public art projects and all of our summer workshops were made possible by these organizations. Thank you!