Artist Profile: Roberta Melzl on “Gather” and CCR’s Integrated Art Circles

Seton Village NPP was honored to partner with the Community Coalition on Race’s Integrated Art Circles this summer. Artist Roberta Melzl sat down with NPP to discuss the project and her work on “Gather” which is currently installed on the front lawn at 133 Fairview Avenue, site of the new Vincent Monella Community Center. Planned ADA upgrades and building improvements to the community center are currently underway and the public is invited to celebrate both CCR’s Integrated Art Circles and the community center updates on Saturday, October 1, 2022 from 1 - 3 PM. (See invitation below). Join us before the celebration at 12 PM for a special outside community yoga session at 133 Fairview Avenue.

Seton Village NPP: How did you get involved in the Integrated Art Circles project with CCR? What were the goals of the program?

Roberta Melzl: I answered a call for teaching artists via CCR seeking people to lead community art circles. Mural making was one of the suggested topics. In the last handful of years I’ve become increasingly interested in mural work. I’ve created and installed various murals and am always searching for new opportunities. I’ve also become increasingly interested in collaborative and community-based projects so this initiative seemed a perfect fit!

The goal of the initiative was to provide exciting projects that combine artistic expression with relationship building of a diverse group of neighbors of different races and backgrounds.

NPP: How did you come up with the concept and design for Gather?

RM: 133 Fairview Avenue in South Orange was offered to us as a possible location for this project. Knowing that the site is slated to become a community center we spent a session brainstorming ideas. We discussed the location and what kind of artwork we might like to make. We did an exercise where everyone wrote down ideas that came to mind with regards to the location and the project. The thought to use words in the design came up repeatedly. After this class while driving past the site with my 9-year-old daughter, I kept struggling with the concept and how to incorporate words into the design. Since the site location is vast and the building the mural was to be on is large, I wondered out loud how would words be legible and make an impact? Tired of listening to me, my daughter finally said “Mom, just write a really big word!” And that was the solution. From there I decided the word Gather was the perfect word to use as this building will be a community center.

NPP: How were community members involved in the project?

RM: All participants were involved in the process of creating Gather from start to finish. I wanted this work to be authored by the entire group. Everyone was involved in the initial conceptualization, template making, and in the final execution of the mural. We were six participants and we were each assigned one letter of the word Gather. As a group we decided on the theme community garden and each person painted their letter how they chose, considering this theme.

NPP: Has Gather had the impact that you envisioned?

RM: Yes! I couldn’t be happier with the result of this project. The collaboration worked well and it was so exciting to witness the implementation of each participant’s idea in their letter. My only wish is that we could have made this mural even bigger!

NPP: What were your biggest challenges in creating and installing Gather?

RM: The biggest challenge of this project was finding a location for the work. Once we were offered the location, per instructions, our biggest challenge was making a mural without working directly on the building (which seems contrary to mural making). So, we painted the mural offsite using canvas and installed the final piece on lattice fencing situated alongside the building. We secured the piece using the best means possible without any permanent options. I’m happy to note that with minimal reinforcement over the months since installation, the mural still looks great.

More about CCR’s Integrated Art Circles

The Public Mural is one of six Integrated Art Circle Projects introduced this year (2022) for the first time by the Community Coalition on Race. Our intention is to enrich the lives of SOMA residents through art, while fostering relationships across race and ethnicity. Mural participants include the teaching artist, Roberta Melzl and residents Amanda Capalbo, Hannah Korn-Heilner, Judith Krammer, Irene Langlois and Pthala Melzl. The Coalition planning team includes Coalition Trustees Barbara Velazquez and Jeremy Dobrish and Program Director, Audrey Rowe.