NASHUA, NH — Public art captures a moment in time reflecting a community and its spirit. The beauty of public art is that it can inspire heal; the hard part is that it comes and it goes.
“That’s what street art is, it’s fluid and always changing,” said Amber Morgan, Positive Street Art Board President. Along with the organization’s co-founders Cecilia Ulibarri and Manny Ramirez, the challenge ahead for them is how to process the loss of a vivid and meaningful community mural, and how to turn that loss into resilience.
When they set out to create the “Take Courage” mural six years ago on a brick wall in a parking lot at the intersection of Temple and Court streets, it was designed as a tribute to community members lost to addiction.
The mural captured the humanity of those who died, all of them immortalized in a cityscape depicted after a storm with the sun coming out as they danced, played and lived their lives – beyond the sorrow and the stigma.
“It was a very emotional piece, and was supposed to be inspiring for people to view,” Ulibarri said.
“We did put a lot of thought into it and the board went through challenges to get the mural up there,” recalled Ramirez.”It wasn’t an easy quick-and-go mural.”
Due to fading and chipping over time, the mural was in need of repair. However the building owner and business tenant notified Positive Street Art’s board in October of their intention to paint over the mural this spring.
The wall was repainted Monday.
The PSA board released a statement Tuesday saying that they ultimately “respect the wishes of the property owners—and the nature of public art’s impermanence,” after learning that the mural had already been painted over.
Although they were hoping for a different resolution, they are now focused on the future.
In recent months PSA has worked out a partnership with Southern New Hampshire Health to recreate a replica of the mural using photographs that will be displayed at the hospital, along with a plaque with the names of those who were represented by the artwork.
Among those honored in the mural were Chris Bankowski, who died Aug. 26, 2017 at the age of 31. His family operated the former Old Amsterdam Bar on Temple Street – now Casey Magee’s, which is the building on which the mural was originally installed.
Bankowski’s sister and PSA board member Allison Isaksen says her brother was a a focal point of the mural, and that the message of the mural was to give people courage – and hope.
“Not all are lost to addiction – many people have overcome it, and so the idea of the mural was to remind people to take courage, and when the road is long to always remember you’re never alone,” Isaksen said.
“Chris was magnetic. People wanted to be around him, his network was huge – I still miss his big Bankowski smile, every day. He was like a big teddy bear,” Isaksen said. “I never would have thought it would happen to our family, but addiction touches every demographic.”
In addition to the tribute wall at Southern New Hampshire Hospital, PSA is also partnering with ARC NH Recovery Center in Milford to fundraise for a new “Take Courage” mural that will be installed in their community meeting room.
“This is not the end of the road for ‘Take Courage,’” said Ulibarri. “It’s a new chapter in the mural’s story—one that continues to bring hope and healing to those who need it most.”
Although Matt Casey, owner of Casey Magee’s, declined to comment for this story, he did provide information about the six-month process leading up to the repainting of the mural, which included his outreach to PSA. Casey also acknowledged donations in the following amounts: $400 to PSA toward the relocation of the Take Courage Mural at Southern NH Medical Hospital; $300 to the Nashua Prevention Coalition toward preventing and reducing substance use in youth; and $300 to Harbor Care, toward substance abuse services.
For more information or to support the creation of the new mural, visit https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/take-courage-legacy-mural-fundraiser or email [email protected]