The City of New Haven has unveiled a new mural on the historic Goffe Street Armory Building.
The purpose of the mural is to raise awareness on the need for more climate action and to highlight how the climate crisis disproportionately impacts colored communities.
“It's about artists and community members taking action, using art as a way to talk to people, to communicate about the issues and to create change,” said Adrienne Jefferson, director of New Haven’s Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism.
The mural painting Thermal Reflections is the largest mural in the city of New Haven and was designed by New Haven-based artist Mike DeAngelo.
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“On the far right, the mural illuminates the red hot rising temperatures within our city. On the far left are the cool blue breezes that are found in the natural environment. In the middle, we have the iconic white PVC hoops that are found throughout the community garden. These hoops represent an opportunity, a doorway to a transition to becoming better stewards of our environment and of our health,” Pizarro said.
The mural was made possible through a partnership between the City of New Haven and Yale’s Schools of Art, Environment and Architecture.
The city’s first Mural Apprenticeship Program also came out of the partnership.
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Dr. Kym Pinder, dean of the Yale School of Art, said the mural apprenticeship program was very important to include as part of a “grow your own” initiative.
“This idea is that we shouldn't be importing too many people in, we have artists here so why don’t we actually make sure that all of these empty walls around New Haven actually have enough artists,” Pinder said.
The mural is already fighting climate change back through its use of new technology known as cooling paint.
“Unlike conventional paint that absorbs heat, cooling paint is this new technology that can reflect heat and it can cool the surface of the building on which the mural is painted,” Dr. Karen Seto, director of the Hixon Center for Urban Sustainability at Yale School of Environment, said.
With the mural being placed at the Historic Goffe Street Armory Building in the historically underserved Dixwell neighborhood, city and community leaders also want it to spark deeper conversations on how to improve the Armory building and by extension, the entire neighborhood.
“This mural has to be the catalyst for larger discussions on how we as a community build the kind of future that we want, how we build the kind of neighborhood that we want,” Babz Rawls Ivy, community activist and editor-in-chief at The Inner-City News, said.
Pastor Steven Cousin, who holds church services at the church across the street from the mural, shared what he would like to see done with the Armory Building.
"The need for housing in this community is great so anything regarding mixed use spaces or affordable housing,” Cousin said.
The Armory Building was added to the Connecticut Freedom Trail in 2023.
“The Connecticut Freedom Trail documents and designates sites that embody the struggle for freedom and human dignity and celebrate African American communities,” Charles Warner, Jr., chairman for the Connecticut Freedom Trail, said.
The state’s historic preservation office secured $400,000 for the rehabilitation of the Armory Building, according to Mayor Justin Elicker.
