MMAS Black Box Theater Displays 106 Mural Concepts

The Mansfield Beautification (aka ) and Mural Project Committees hosted a reception on Thursday for Mansfield artist Ian Gaudreau's showing of the new concept for the proposed .

"I felt like it was meant for me," he said. "I was really excited about it, and I actually almost missed my opportunity, as I missed that first deadline. I was really depressed about that, but luckily I got to submit as well and that's where we are today."

Gaudreau started at Mansfield High School eighth grade. In Freshman year at  he joined the art department, and was named class artist in his Senior yearbook caption in 2000.

He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 2004 with a bachelor of arts degree in painting and minor in art history, and then started what is now a promising career in art and graphic design. He has worked in graphic design for Hasbro in Pawtucket, but realized it was not a field he wanted to pursue, and started his own art and graphic design company called IMG Designs.

Gaudreau has now come full circle in that now he has been selected (after a rigorous selection process from both the Mansfield Beautification and Mural Project Committee), and last night unveiled his current concept for the mural at the .

Gaudreau stressed that much of the work in the designed he showed that night is temporary, and many of his ideas for the project had not been fully rendered at the time. The sketches to the right of this article back that up, as he also showed many other ideas he had for the mural. The current concept will be on display at the theare until July 10. 

Below is the narrative for the mural, and Gaudreau walks the reader through his creative process as well as explains the meaning and importance of the objects depicted in the mural.

Mural Narrative

By Ian Gaudreau

Before viewing the image of my mural concept it is important to note that it is meant to be a simple rendering of a concept and not the finished composition.  Some parts may seem very simple and meant to reference an idea and are yet to be fully illustrated and composed.  

As a long time resident of Mansfield I have always felt as though there was something different about our town, a sense of pride that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It wasn’t just one thing but rather a collective which gave the residence of Mansfield an educated “do the right thing” attitude.  As I read Jennie Copeland’s book I learned that this wasn’t just some new idea but rather something that had been brewing since the first Mansfield settlers began pulling bog iron from the ground.

My mural concept can be broken down into two halves. One side of the wall is meant to be an allegory of elements of Mansfield which give its residents a sense of pride, the other side is a brief history of how we got there.  In the middle rests a large American flag on a pole with an eagle at the top. This element serves many functions.  It is a symbol of patriotism, it asserts that Mansfield is a great town of a great country, and lastly as a utility to the mural as a border between allegory and history.  This point of convergence in the composition is met by crescendo on both sides, an allegorical side which culminates with a flag that blankets a dedication to soldiers and a historical side which ends with a blanket made with elements of early Mansfield industry that becomes stars to our nation’s flag.

 The allegorical side represents sports, education, marching bands, and culminates with a dedication to Mansfield residents who have fought for our country.  From left to right the viewer sees long stretched tromp ole engraved green colored letters, spelling Mansfield. The stately presence of the engraved lettering is meant to symbolize this general sense of pride in Mansfield, also to lead the eye into the images which represent specific points of prestige.  To start the area I want to show Mansfield’s commitment to an illustrious tradition of sports namely football and basketball.  I want to show a scene of Mansfield football players and how the uniform has changed through the years from no helmets to the helmets we know today.  I would also like to pay tribute to some of the notable players and couches over the years.  Proceeding along I intend to show an alcove of a sculpture depicting Mansfield as a town dedicated to educating its residents.  The illusion of a sculpture will show students eager to learn flanked by notable educators from our town like John H. Berry and Harold L. Qualters.  Next I wanted to show Mansfield’s history of marching bands and color guard portrayed in a fashion similar to the sports dedication. Finally the stately portrayal of Mansfield’s pride culminates with a display of its service to our great country.  Resting behind the colors of our nation is one uniformed soldier from each us war where a Mansfield resident participated. To the left of the soldiers is a plaque as if engraved in the wall, showing the number of Mansfield residents who participated in each war.

To the right of the American flag is a story about the history of our town which starts on the right where the Mansfield crest is displayed on a flag painted to look as if it blowing in the wind.  At the edge of the flag stands Lewis Packard, an early dedicated developer of Mansfield, he is accredited with building a lot of homes and buildings in Mansfield. He stands poised ready to do more work with the tools of his trade:  a corner square in hand and a 4x4 wood beam beneath at his feet.  Lewis gazes over the history of Mansfield with pride as he begins to tell us the story of how it was built.  Coming from behind the flag is a scene showing a natural brook rich in iron with a worker retrieving a bounty of bog iron from the generous landscape.  This scene pays tribute to the early days of Mansfield.  Due to its local abundance, bog iron became our town’s original industry and was even used as a local currency for a short period.  Behind the brook will be the Fisher Richardson house, the oldest home in Mansfield, and a true gem in its history.  Mansfield like a lot of small towns had a slow start there wasn’t much reason to settle in the obscure flatlands of Bristol County, however the introduction of trains sought to change all that. 

Jennie Copeland tells us that in the beginning many towns folk where in opposition to the trains not wanting the disturbance of loud locomotives ruining their peaceful town.  The early trains had their short comings - some were too slow to be of use.  Jennie goes on to mention that at some points the passengers of the trains would need to hop out and push to get through areas of the primitive tracks. Eventually the trains proved they had a reason to stay.  Mansfield became a hub for refueling and trains became a source of income for Mansfield residents that provided the trains with wood to burn for steam.  Trains also powered their engines with Mansfield water, in fact some local gristmills complained of lost power due to water depletion caused by thirsty trains up stream.  Over all the trains changed Mansfield tremendously. Many Irish workers made residence in Mansfield while laying down tracks and gave quite a bit of patronage to local watering holes; the disturbance they caused afterward became another gripe from towns folk who thought the trains were ruining everything.  In the end many of those workers stayed in our town boosting the population. The trains improved with time and eventually began to pay dividends to Mansfield by providing income to it residents who fueled them, increasing population, and expanding the clientele of our local industries. The evolution of the train became an important piece of Mansfield’s history.  Three trains of varying ages represent the evolution of the train, while icons of early Mansfield industry spiral from between two trains to show the way trains impacted and stimulated the early economy of our town.

Next is scene that represents the Mansfield trotting park and the fact that it became the Mansfield airport. The Mansfield trotting park was small and modest and some Mansfield residents informed me that Foxboro actually had a “better” and “bigger” trotting park.  I have decided to dismiss this notion. The trotting park deserves space on this wall. Symbolically the park and the race image speaks volumes about the drive and pride of a Mansfield resident, no matter how small or humble the park may have been it represents entertainment and the early Mansfield towns folk were saying “we don’t want to leave our town to be entertained”.  The imagery of the trotting park represents the spirit and rapid growth of Mansfield after the trains evolved through the strength of the massive horses that gracefully speed by.  To emphasize this notion an allegorical female figure is posed at the right side of the track she waves her scarf and leans over the fence in praise of the racers, she will be dressed in clothing of the period.  As the horses round the bend the dirt track fades away and pavement begins. The number “47” is on the ground disguised as an arbitrary runway number while noting the year that the airport was acquired by the town of Mansfield from the US Navy who had deemed it surplus after World War II.  Another interesting point is that the fence that goes around the track fades into a checkered flag to symbolize the end of the race track, the numbers “1928” will be written on the fence to note the year that Florence Boltz hired workers to turn the trotting park into an airport.  The original airport had grass runways and will be shown in the background with two open cockpit biplanes, a silver and blue plane and the other orange and black, which were the original planes flown at the Mansfield airport. The airport became a mecca for early aviators and pioneers of the new transportation method, and in 1943 Mrs. Boltz was awarded the Harry F. Guggenheim award for Aviation Achievement.  In the air above the airport will be a US navy Stearman biplane made by Boeing with the number “42” on it which is the year the US navy took over the airport to use as a cadet training facility.

To the left of the airport image begins a scene of town and the Mansfield of old. After speaking with many of our town’s residents they advised me that I should show the town “the way it used to be”.  I agreed that this was a valid sentiment and that this information shouldn’t get lost in time.  In this segment I want to show some old buildings like the old town hall which was claimed by fire in December of 1970, the Tavern which burned down in July 1948 and the Lovell block which stood at the corner of North Main and West Street.  Above these period icons at the skyline level I want to place some notable signs that were about town like the Bay State tap and Die company smoke stack, the Card tap and die sign, the Mansfield Bleachery water tower, and the Tydol Gas Station sign.  I have chosen these objects because I feel they represent a time lost. It would be an ambitious undertaking to show everything, I just want to capture a sentiment and not overwhelm the viewer with too much. Coming around the bend from behind the old town hall is one of Mansfield most charming stories, the annual Parade of Geese.  After Traveling by train from Canada as many as 1500 geese would march from the depot on North Main Street to the Austin Goose Farm on Winter Street. The production was such a beloved event that the entire town was involved and schools were closed for the day as part of the celebration. The annual parade took place in the fall from the late 1900’s to the 1950’s.  The Austin Goose Farm was enormous at 100 acres and earned Mansfield the title of the goose capital, the land is now subdivided and the streets Goose Lane, Gander Lane, and Down Lane pay tribute to the lands former usage. To commemorate this event stopped to watch the parading geese will be a trolley car and citizens who gather to watch the fantastic past time.

 One element of the painting that I employ to pull the entire painting together is the use of abstract blue shapes.  When I was about six years old my father was building one of his inventions which in this case was a large blue annealing oven.   At the time I had no way of understanding what an annealing oven was or what it could do, it might have been a time machine for all I knew.  It was about twenty five feet long and six feet tall which to me seemed like one hundred feet long and ten feet tall, it’s shape was very simple like a big long blue box.  When I saw this big blue shape my mind would wander through the infinite possibilities of what it might do while at the same time making me aware of the space I was in due to its encompassing size, and sharp perspective lines. The memory of this blue machine and the profound experience of being near it are quite crisp in my mind.  I have used this memory to create my dancing blue shapes which I hope will evoke the same feeling in my viewer that I had when I was six.  The blue shapes serpentine through space abstracting perspective and light as they dance and dazzle.  I think of them as a metaphor for an individual’s path through life, full of twists and turns and endless of possibilities.

Lastly, I want to explain the theme which works with my blue shapes to create a cohesive story to the painting, the iconic references of early Mansfield industry and the American quilt. My mother has always been great quilt makers and what I have always loved about them is the colors that come from the multitude of fabrics used. I noticed that quilts weren’t made from fabric that was bought for the sole purpose of that quilt to be made but instead were made with what fabrics you had.  Nothing beats a good old American quilt for its comfort and its home made feeling.  In my mural concept the icons of early industry spring from between two trains and float through my story finally they fall into place on a quilt a Mansfield quilt. Taking this idea a step further I would like to make the border fabrics relate to Mansfield as well.  Finally, the icons of industry fade into stars which become the stars on the American flag to symbolize that the fabric of our town is a small piece of the fabric of a great country.

Bibliography

Everyday But Sunday by Jennie Copeland

Images of Mansfield by Kevin B. McNatt and Andrew J. Todesco

Wickedlocal.com

Meetings with the Mansfield Historical Society

Talking the my fellow residence