“The destiny of earthseed is to take root amongst the stars.”
— Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower
Moringa the Medicine Woman
Moringa is the embodiment of truth. She reminds us that the light and source of our own healing lives within us.
During the Spring of 2021, we facilitated workshops with 4th and 5th grade students at Integrated Arts Academy and Sustainability Academy to create individual pieces of art that were collaged into Moringa’s wings. We later facilitated a community paint day, in late July 2021, as part of the annual Old North End Ramble in which inter-generational members of the Burlington community were able to contribute additional artwork. Moringa’s wing patterns are made up of a total of 187 individual pieces of artwork.
The mural is 20’ x 20’ and was painted with premium aerosol and acrylic paints, and UV protection on Dibond panels installed on the facade of the historic ONE Community Center building. We spent a year planning this project with administrative leaders of Champlain Housing Trust and architects specializing in historical buildings.
2021 • Old North End Community Center • Burlington, VT
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Vermont Public Radio, By Marlon Hyde, Mary Engisch | Published Aug. 14, 2021
'I See Myself In Her': Creating Representation In New Afro-Pollinator Mural In Burlington's Old North End. This summer don't be surprised to see new art on once-vacant walls in Vermont’s biggest city. One artist family is behind many of these recent murals.
VPR reporter Marlon Hyde joined Weekend Edition host Mary Engisch to talk more about how, with the help of neighborhoods, Black creators are painting public art that represents and helps define a community.
Seven Days, Melissa Pasanen | Published Aug. 3, 2021
Photo Essay: Juniper Creative Arts Integrates and Reflects Community in Public Art. On Saturday in the Old North End Community Center parking lot, close to 100 people worked on pieces of a new mural, titled "Moringa the Medicine Woman," destined for an exterior wall of the center. The community paint day was integrated into the Ramble, a free annual event in the Burlington neighborhood.
As participants dipped brushes into yellow and green paint, Will Kasso Condry of Juniper Creative Arts stood on a scissor lift, wielding spray paint to fill the outline of the 20-by-20-foot mural. At tables below, his wife, Jennifer Herrera Condry, and their daughter, Alexa Herrera Condry, handed out stars, circles, crescents and diamonds for others to paint.