Watertown Art Students Bring Life to Wall in Coolidge Square

Charlie Breitrose

The new mural, Seeds of Change, that Watertown High School students painted at Uncommon Grounds.

A group of Watertown High School students have transformed a once gray wall in East Watertown now overflows with colorful fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The mural went up on the wall next to Uncommon Grounds at the corner of Mt. Auburn Street and Melendy Avenue. This is the third collaboration between students from Watertown High School and artist Gregg Bernstein.

The first two – the first along the path between Whites and Waverly avenues and second on Baptist Walk in Watertown Square – were large walls. This project, however, also includes a large cubical refrigerator and wooden cut outs that will be placed in storefront windows in Coolidge Square.

The project is called “Seeds of Change,” Bernstein said, and the project received the support of the Watertown Cultural Council.

“It’s about fruit, seeds, growth, life and color,” he said. “We tried to focus on some of the markets in the area that sell the fruit.”

Charlie Breitrose

Watertown High School senior Julia Harrington puts the finishing touches on the mural on the refrigerator at Uncommon Grounds in Coolidge Square.

While the first two projects took eight weeks, this one was finished in half the time. Peter Kaloostian, owner of Uncommon Grounds, said the reception has been great.

“So many people have been coming by and commenting on it,” Kaloostian said. “They thing its a great idea.”

When he was approached about having the mural Kaloostian said he thought it was a great idea.

“It’s just a beautiful mural,” Kaloostian said. “Plus, it gives the kids a great opportunity to show their talent.”

For some of the nine students, this is their third mural project, Bernstein said.

“They know what’s expected and the routine,” Bernstein said. “They jump on it.”

Painting still-life is a departure from the first two projects, said Julia Harrington, a WHS senior who has worked on all three murals. The first focused on the people and places scenes around Watertown, while the second focused on fabric patterns from different cultures.

Charlie Breitrose

Artist Gregg Bernstein worked on his third mural with Watertown High School students this summer. Here he helps a student cut out a fruit painted on wood that will go in a storefront.

Along with the painting, the students also met and the store owners in East Watertown.

“It was interesting to get and idea of the people around us,” Harrington said. “We are making cut outs to hang in shop owner windows.”

Meeting the shop owners and hearing their stories was eye opening for WHS senior Sara Fulton.

“It showed me how grateful Ia m to be American citizen and not go through a civil war,” Fulton said.

She spoke with the owner of Arax Market, who came to the U.S. to escape the Civil War in Lebanon and worked in the business started by his uncle.

Fulton had not worked on the previous murals, but had friends who were working on this one, so she joined in. Working on a wall is much different that painting on a flat surface on an easel, she said.

Charlie Breitrose

A view of the new mural in Coolidge Square looking up Melendy Avenue.

Sophomore Isabella Vitti also worked on her first mural. She had seen the others and an art teacher at the high school encouraged her to take part this year.

“The past four weeks have been sometimes hard, but good work,” Vitti said. “It if fun to do and good to know you are doing something that will lost a long time.”

Taking on such a large project was a bit of a challenge, she said, but she got some good guidance.

“It was a bit intimidating going into it, because I had not had any experience,” Vitti said. “Gregg’s great. He’s a good boss, or mentor as he calls himself.”

Bernstein said plans are underway for next year already, and may involve the wall of the East Watertown Post Office.