Artist, volunteers paint mural on New Roots

On Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon, throughout June, July and August, artist Lachlan Chambliss can be found at the back of the New Roots charter school in Ithaca, his feet on a ladder or planted firmly on the ground, painting the tallest mural he has ever painted in his long history of art.

This summer, the back of New Roots in Ithaca is getting a facelift as Chambliss fills it with his Environmental Justice and Sustainability mural.

The mural is a “big picture view” of environmental justice and sustainability issues the world is facing, depicting scenes like the BP oil spill, the Dakota access pipeline and the Exxon Valdez spill in panels around one large painted archway. Chambliss said he has tried to keep the style consistent with the Greek revival style of the building while still sending a contemporary, powerful message.

“At a distance, it’s hard to tell what a lot of these things actually are. It looks like a nice sort of façade unless you are looking closely at a lot of the individual windows,” Chambliss said. “That actually works well with the way that a lot of environmental problems also function. We can think everything’s flowing nicely when all there are all these other things going on.”

Caleb Thomas, who assists artists in painting murals for Ithaca Murals, paints with Chambliss on Saturdays along with volunteers from the area. Thomas said Chambliss suits the community-building goal of the Ithaca Murals project while also using his own distinct style.

“The murals across the city are as diverse as the city itself. … I love how each project is different,” Thomas said. “[Chambliss has] this architectural, mathematical mind that he can incorporate into these amazing patterns and layering that happens.”

The mural is a collaboration between New Roots and Ithaca Murals that began in fall 2017. New Roots student Ahja Haedicke started the environmental program, including creating a competition for artists to paint the mural on the back of the school with the theme of “Social Justice and Sustainability,” according to a press release. In spring 2018, New Roots staff and students voted and selected Chambliss to be the lead artist.

Tina Nilsen-Hodges, principal of New Roots, said she is proud of the level of student involvement in the project, as it speaks to New Roots’ curriculum, which is built around giving students what they need to be design thinkers and approach different ways to live.

“I can’t think of a single person who didn’t wholeheartedly adopt and embrace the idea right from the beginning,” she said. “The mural is a very tangible expression of the ways that we’re seeking to engage students in envisioning a more just and sustainable future.”
Jhakeem Haltom, dean of student life at New Roots, agreed, adding that he admires the goal of the mural project.

“It reminds me of a dream,” Haltom said. “The mural project is nothing special in and of itself. There’s no trophy. There’s no Nobel Peace Prize.

It’s just being a part of this community conversation of expression.”
The mural also acts as a way for New Roots to be part of a community conversation, Haltom said.

“We’re totally in support of communal expression across the board, not just for New Roots, but for everybody, and we’re happy to use our school as a way to allow community artists to put forward their ideas of what Ithaca is and how we can be a better community,” he said. “Small voices we may be, we have students here that are invested in what the rest of the community is doing and willing to support artistic expression and social justice.”

Chambliss said murals and other community art projects can often be more impactful than a protest and other similar measures in affecting change for society. Art, especially pieces that last a long time and are displayed as prominently as this one, can shift the public conversation, he said.

“You can, perhaps, stop deforestation by protesting or trying to get laws passed, but that’s still not going to stop people from buying this stuff that’s from a forest unless you shift the cultural thinking,” Chambliss said. “People just have to be made aware of how their decisions may impact the environment.”

Thomas agreed, saying he enjoys working with Chambliss and other volunteers to learn more about environmental impacts of present-day society.

“It’s a weekly time of putting our intention on these issues … and talk about them together while we’re painting,” Thomas said. “It’s the creativity of doing it. … And then, it is here, lasting for a long time, like a record of that time period of painting and thinking about this, being creative in this way.”

Chambliss hopes that his mural will inspire people to change their thinking to help shift society away from one of consumerism that harms the environment. He said art is his way of being the change he wants to see in the world.

“If you can change consumerism types of ideas, then you can alter production. You can change how resources are used,” he said. “I don’t see a lot of political tools or other types pathways to the type of change that I think is necessary to create a better world.”

Chambliss, who has painted over 70 murals during his time in the Peace Corps, utilizes many stencils for his mural, creating what will become intricate border designs. He said this allows for volunteers of almost any skill level to help with the project.

Thomas and Chambliss are expecting the mural to take another few months to finish, especially with how slow volunteering has been on this mural.

“What’s here now is a framework, a skeleton of what’s to come,” Thomas said. “It starts to pop as these layers come more and more. It looks pretty simple right now, but over the next couple months, the intricacies will just grow.”

Thomas emphasized that there is an open invitation for anyone wishing to volunteer in painting the mural. Paintings are from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday (except rainy days) at New Roots. People with a steady hand who are comfortable with ladders and who care about environmental issues are most encouraged to come.

If interested, contact Thomas at 607-273-5242 or ithacamurals@gmail.com or Chambliss at lachamb2000@yahoo.com.