The Charter Oak Water Mural
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PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Charter Oak Water Mural is a to-scale image of Connecticut's State Tree "the Charter Oak" on the concrete facade of a historic building in Downtown Hartford. The piece is only visible when enlivened by spontaneous flowing water and features an image of Charles DeWolf Brownell’s “The Charter Oak”, a reference to American freedom and independence. The continually flowing water aspects of the design also served to engage visitors, encouraging people (including children) to get involved with the art work as participants, not merely observers. Interactive experiences included using targeted sprinklers, squirt toys and water spouts adding a sense of play to the strong historical, aesthetic and conceptual elements represented in the project. This is the first mural of its kind (based on our research) in the country and so wonderfully challenges stereotypical notions of how one can interact with/be engaged by a mural. This project has received remarkable national and international attention including, Huffington Post Italy, Daily Mail UK as well as magazines and on-line mags/blogs in Switzerland, Russia, Thailand, Italy, Denmark, UK, Greece, New Zealand, Hungary, France, Germany, Spain, Africa, and Latin America.