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nent audience, those who have to live with the
art, is one with which the community muralist is
constantly faced. The ideal is to work constant-
ly at the cutting edge of issues—neither too far
ahead nor too far behind. This is a-continual
struggle involving a constant series of difficult
decisions and has been a direct part of my own
recent experience as a muralist. After several
years of working in a relatively radicalized uni-
versity setting, | undertook some murals in a
very different environment—a conservative
small town in the Adirondack mountains. My
problem was how to paint a bicentennial mural
that would be accepted by the permanent resi-
dents as their history and yet not violate my
convictions, or the truth. Just as | began work in
early 1976, the very town authorities who were
my sponsors whitewashed a youth mural on
ecology | had directed in 1974, which was criti-
cal of the town’s dumping sewage into the
Schroon River. | conceived my design as a com-
promise: the ancestors of the present residents
are shown as workers in the logging industry,
the saw mill, and the textile factories—a work-
ing-class history, but one with only positive
images. | began painting the wall with great
misgivings. It was the reaction of the “locals,”
and their enthusiastic hunger for their own his-
tory, that made me realize that it is not just
minority-group people or urban ghetto residents
who have been deprived of their history and
their right to their own art expression, but every
segment of America’s working people.
Communication between muralists around
the nation has increased greatly since 1974.
Three major mural conferences have occurred
and the exchange of information and tech-
niques has furthered experimentation. Many
muralists who previously worked alone have
begun to experiment with collective techniques
and vice versa. In 1975, for example, five
muralists from the Chicago Mural Group (Caryl
Yasko, Mitchell Caton, Celia Radek, Justine
DeVan, and Lucyna Radycki) worked on a col-
lectively designed and painted wall. Prescrip-
tion tor Good Health Care. The muralists were a
mixed group—racially, sexually, and in terms of
previous mural experience. This was their first
collectively designed wall, although they had
helped each other to paint on other walls. The
location at 57th and Kedzie is near the head-
quarters of the American Nazi Party in Chicago.
Initially, there was some fear that racial attacks
might prevent the group from working, but
there were no disturbances during the time the
mural was being painted. Acceptance in this
white working-class neighborhood of a racially
mixed group of muralists reflects the prestige
that murals have achieved in Chicago.
The continuing attempt at collectivity and
away from the individualistic “genius” concept
of the artist prevalent in the art world has been
one of the major distinctions pioneered by
women in the mural movement; it derives at
least in part from the influence of the Women'’s
Liberation Movement. The non-hierarchical
structures of the early women’s organizations,
as well as the direct experience of conscious-
ness-raising groups, with the sisterhood and
support they provided, became a part of the
outlook of a number of the women muralists.
The changes resulting from their individual ex-
periences with Women'’s Liberation led them to
bring the same egalitarian and collective prac-
tices to the mural groups they joined or helped
found.
While ideas from feminism and Marxism are
implicit in the attempt to create a people’s art—
especially in murals by women—the level of
politicization and consciousness among mural-
ists varies greatly. Most community muralists,
however, if they were familiar with Mao’s words
at the Yenan Forum, would agree that:
In the world today all culture, all literature and
art belong to definite classes and are geared to
definite political lines. There is in fact no such
thing as Art for art’s sake, art that stands above
classes, art that is detached from or independ-
ent of politics.
If that is true, one must choose—and they
have chosen.
*From “Brotando del Silencio” (Breaking Out of the
Silence), songs by Suni Paz, Paredon P-1016, Paredon
Records, Box 889, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11202.
Eva Cockcroft is a muralist and co-author (with John Weber
and Jim Cockcroft) of the forthcoming book, Towards a
People’s Art: The Contemporary Mural Movement (E.P.
Dutton).
nent audience, those who have to live with the
art, is one with which the community muralist is
constantly faced. The ideal is to work constant-
ly at the cutting edge of issues—neither too far
ahead nor too far behind. This is a-continual
struggle involving a constant series of difficult
decisions and has been a direct part of my own
recent experience as a muralist. After several
years of working in a relatively radicalized uni-
versity setting, | undertook some murals in a
very different environment—a conservative
small town in the Adirondack mountains. My
problem was how to paint a bicentennial mural
that would be accepted by the permanent resi-
dents as their history and yet not violate my
convictions, or the truth. Just as | began work in
early 1976, the very town authorities who were
my sponsors whitewashed a youth mural on
ecology | had directed in 1974, which was criti-
cal of the town’s dumping sewage into the
Schroon River. | conceived my design as a com-
promise: the ancestors of the present residents
are shown as workers in the logging industry,
the saw mill, and the textile factories—a work-
ing-class history, but one with only positive
images. | began painting the wall with great
misgivings. It was the reaction of the “locals,”
and their enthusiastic hunger for their own his-
tory, that made me realize that it is not just
minority-group people or urban ghetto residents
who have been deprived of their history and
their right to their own art expression, but every
segment of America’s working people.
Communication between muralists around
the nation has increased greatly since 1974.
Three major mural conferences have occurred
and the exchange of information and tech-
niques has furthered experimentation. Many
muralists who previously worked alone have
begun to experiment with collective techniques
and vice versa. In 1975, for example, five
muralists from the Chicago Mural Group (Caryl
Yasko, Mitchell Caton, Celia Radek, Justine
DeVan, and Lucyna Radycki) worked on a col-
lectively designed and painted wall. Prescrip-
tion tor Good Health Care. The muralists were a
mixed group—racially, sexually, and in terms of
previous mural experience. This was their first
collectively designed wall, although they had
helped each other to paint on other walls. The
location at 57th and Kedzie is near the head-
quarters of the American Nazi Party in Chicago.
Initially, there was some fear that racial attacks
might prevent the group from working, but
there were no disturbances during the time the
mural was being painted. Acceptance in this
white working-class neighborhood of a racially
mixed group of muralists reflects the prestige
that murals have achieved in Chicago.
The continuing attempt at collectivity and
away from the individualistic “genius” concept
of the artist prevalent in the art world has been
one of the major distinctions pioneered by
women in the mural movement; it derives at
least in part from the influence of the Women'’s
Liberation Movement. The non-hierarchical
structures of the early women’s organizations,
as well as the direct experience of conscious-
ness-raising groups, with the sisterhood and
support they provided, became a part of the
outlook of a number of the women muralists.
The changes resulting from their individual ex-
periences with Women'’s Liberation led them to
bring the same egalitarian and collective prac-
tices to the mural groups they joined or helped
found.
While ideas from feminism and Marxism are
implicit in the attempt to create a people’s art—
especially in murals by women—the level of
politicization and consciousness among mural-
ists varies greatly. Most community muralists,
however, if they were familiar with Mao’s words
at the Yenan Forum, would agree that:
In the world today all culture, all literature and
art belong to definite classes and are geared to
definite political lines. There is in fact no such
thing as Art for art’s sake, art that stands above
classes, art that is detached from or independ-
ent of politics.
If that is true, one must choose—and they
have chosen.
*From “Brotando del Silencio” (Breaking Out of the
Silence), songs by Suni Paz, Paredon P-1016, Paredon
Records, Box 889, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11202.
Eva Cockcroft is a muralist and co-author (with John Weber
and Jim Cockcroft) of the forthcoming book, Towards a
People’s Art: The Contemporary Mural Movement (E.P.
Dutton).
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