Reimagine Dunham Mall and this mural project are supported by a Commonwealth Places Grant with a funding match by Pittsfield Beautiful and community donations. Administered by MassDevelopment, Commonwealth Places provides funding to support place-based, locally driven placemaking projects in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts throughout Massachusetts.

Based on public input, Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. added 8 large planters to Dunham Mall with Heritage Birch trees to provide shade and natural habitats, smaller planters filled with colorful annuals, seating, and a pop of color with Markey’s mosaic murals. These projects are to support the use and beautification of Dunham Mall.

The inspiration provided to Markey for his mosaic murals was that Pittsfield is where nature and city meet and that Dunham Mall where the murals would be located has become a hub of activity with events like Rhythmscape – a free, outdoor Summer Dance Series, The Pitt – a free, outdoor Summer Concert Series, and Dance on Dunham during the First Fridays at Five.

Robert Markey is an artist who has worked in many media over the years including painting, sculpture, installation, video, and mosaics. He has done public art projects in cities around the country including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, and Minneapolis. His first video was aired on PBS, and he received national media coverage for his public performance work on domestic violence.

Robert has done mosaic murals in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Israel, India, Afghanistan, and the U.S. creating mosaic murals with youth in vulnerable situations. He has done painted murals with refugees in the U.S. and Greece, and with tribal painters in India.

His sculptures have been featured in various locations around the country, including The Norman Rockwell Museum and Chesterwood in Stockbridge, 3 Sisters Sanctuary in Goshen, and Sculpture Fest in Woodstock, VT.

“I was asked to do three mosaic mural panels about Pittsfield,” says Robert. “The city sent me many pictures of the city and people in the city, and I also took some photos of the city.”

“The first panel is about the river and the mountains around Pittsfield. The second panel is people dancing and a man in a wheelchair. The third panel is the center of the city with two tall buildings and some trees.”

“It was an interesting process to make these mosaic panels – one is a far view, one is a close up, and one is a medium distance view. Deciding on colors was also interesting – the colors of the river, the two different sky colors, and deciding to make the background color of the dancers white.”