|
Library's Teen Mural Unveiled To Packed House
By Keith Hagarty
 | | --Photo By Keith Hagarty Moments after the Howell Library's first teen mural was unveiled, artists (l-r) Julie condardo, project manager Amber Opal DeGruttola, Prudence Brown and chelsea shafranek stand proudly in front of their impressive piece. |
|
From the wave of popping camera flashes to the bouquets of flowers given to each young artist, the Howell Library looked more like a trendy SoHo art gallery Wednesday night when a standing room only crowd got their first glimpse at the library's first ever teen mural.
Modeled after French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1881 masterpiece "The Luncheon of the Boating Party," the library's newest mural depicts a cast of characters from all walks of classic literature.
The idea for the mural came after library employees and patrons wondered what could be done with a small front corner of the interior of the building, adjacent to a reading room, which had long been nothing more than a dark, shadowy wall. That wall was transformed into a clean canvas, open to a world of possibilities for young artistic minds.
"With the help of the Monmouth County Arts Council, they helped make our dreams come true," said Howell Librarian Stephanie Acosta. "We started with just this one tiny area, and what we got is beyond our wildest dreams."
The mural project was headed up by fine artist Amber Opal DeGruttola, and her apprentice, Prudence Brown, who worked with local teen artists Julie Condardo, Chelsea Shafranek and Mona Cao. Cao was unable to attend the evening's ceremony.
The instant the mural was unveiled to the public, DeGruttola smiled from ear to ear.
"It's amazing," she said, awe struck. "Just the feedback was incredible ... I think it is going to change the library pretty much forever. It's beautiful. I love it."
One of the missions of the library is to encourage children and teens to expand their minds and tap into their creative artistic abilities, and the mural is a glowing example of those efforts, said teen librarian Veronica Stevens.
"This is a very auspicious and monumental day for our library," Stevens said. "We are the only library in Monmouth County that has a teen mural, and I think that's very, very special."
With plans to attend The Art Institute of Philadelphia next month, Condardo, 18, was flattered to be chosen as one of the students to help collaborate on the mural and work side-by-side with DeGruttola.
"She's a brilliant artist," said Condardo, pointing to the geisha as her favorite character in the mural. "I learned that to get better, you need to speed your artwork up a bit, and pick up your pace, always try to get better, and take your time to get good."
As a volunteer at the library for the past four years, Shafranek jumped at the chance to be part of the art project. After being invited to attend a meeting of artists to discuss the mural's creation, Shafranek knew she had to be a part of it.
"I had no idea it would be this big a deal at all," Shafranek said, surveying the crowded room of family, friends and art loving library patrons. "I thought it was just going to be a few teen artists getting together, and I had no idea we'd have Amber involved. She's wonderful to work with. Her style is really interesting, and really fun."
DeGruttola designed the initial sketch for the mural, with Shafranek, a junior at Biotechnology High School, dazzled by the intricate expressive amount of detail contained in even her earliest sketches.
"It all seems to just flow together really well," said Shafranek. "It's just outstanding."
As an art student since the age of 5, Shafranek has some simple advice for even the littlest budding artists.
"Ask a lot of questions about art," she said. "If you feel like doodling one day, just do it, you never know what it will lead to."
Pointing to the additions of Frankenstein's monster and a wizard as two of the mural's characters who most stand out for her, Brown said she's honored to have her contribution be part of the fabric of the library for years to come.
"That's amazing," she said. "Really awesome."
For Stevens, the idea for the mural project came in the middle of the night when most people are counting sheep.
"If you know me, then you know that three o'clock in the morning is my creative time when I have great ideas," she said. "One word came into my mind, and that was 'serendipity.' I don't know why that word came into my mind. So when I got up in the morning, I went to the dictionary and had to see exactly what it meant. It says: 'an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident; good fortune; luck.' I have to tell you that this mural is really serendipity for this library. Everything that has surrounded this mural has been really great luck."
Elaborating on the serendipity theme, Stevens said it was mere chance that DeGruttola landed in the library's lap to lead the project.
"I was in the library actually interviewing different artists, and out of nowhere Amber appeared—now, Amber's always been a patron of this library, but I never knew that she was an artist," said Stevens. "I said to Amber, 'okay, what's your Web site? Let me look at it and see your artwork' and I looked at her artwork and said, 'this just has the right feel.' It was exactly what I was looking for ... good fortune and good luck."
Gazing at the mural, Stevens said it' has her looking at the library's walls in a whole new way.
"It's changed the whole atmosphere of this library," said Stevens. "I'm also grateful we were able to give these teens an incredible opportunity to be able to participate in such a great project that can enhance their creativity."
| 
)