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06/05/2016 05:15 PMThey’re sky blue, covered with summer shoreline designs, and doing double duty as art in the community and trash collection cans. Last week, the Town of Branford unveiled the first group of artfully transformed trash collection barrels on the Branford Green and at Foote Park.
First Selectman James B. Cosgrove said he hopes to see even more of the unique receptacles created and added to other outdoor town spaces this summer. The first batch, a dozen formerly dull steel drums, were painted up by a group of local artists responding to an open invitation from the Town of Branford, non-profit Branford Arts & Cultural Alliance (BACA) and the Branford Art Center (BAC). The effort was tagged as a “Beautify Branford Event.”
From the Branford Festival’s busy three-day weekend on through to weekly Branford Jazz on the Green, summer’s an especially high-use time for Branford’s iconic town green. The town generally rolls out a big bunch of industrial-looking barrels to collect litter during Branford Fest and then leaves up to a dozen on the green to help keep it clean for the rest of the summer, Cosgrove explained.
Cosgrove meets quarterly with representatives from churches on the green, the Academy on the green and the Town Green Committee; and it was during their most recent discussion that talk turned to adding in some eye-catching trash barrels.
“The idea came up about doing something to dress them up; and I had also received an email prior to that from a resident about litter on the green, who said perhaps if the trash barrels caught your eye, you’d be more inclined to use them,” said Cosgrove.
Cosgrove contacted BACA president and co-founder Frank Carrano with the idea. All-volunteer, member-supported BACA was founded about 18 months ago to bring more arts exposure into the Branford community, through free experiences the public can enjoy.
To undertake the effort, Carrano added Yvonne Gordon- Moser, BAC founding artist and Executive Director, to the mix. BAC has collaborated with BACA on several other projects in the past year and a half.
“It started with a phone call from Jamie about decorating the trash cans,” said Carrano. “I called Yvonne and she jumped right in.”
“It worked out great,” said Cosgrove. “In a little over a month, it all came together. Frank and Yvonne really coordinated everything.”
Gordon-Moser opened the doors of BAC’s workshop in the town center (1229 Main St.) to take delivery of a dozen town trash barrels ready for exterior improvement. She was soon joined by several shoreline artist volunteers, who helped deck out the drums with painted sunflowers, jelly fish, shining suns, sparkling waves, colorful sailboats and even an iconic Branford landmark or two. Gordon-Moser said while the artists didn’t sign their work, they did make sure to pump up the town’s name.
“Some of them might have put their initials; but it was more of a community, collaborative thing,” she said. “Most of the barrels have at least ‘Branford’ written on them; some have ‘BAC’, some have ‘BACA’ — so they’re identified as the town’s.”
Joining Gordon-Moser in the creative process were artists Pamela Morgan, Sharon Hart, Jay Babino, Holly Whiting, Frank Dormer and Maryann Cooke.
Parks and Recreation Director Alex Palluzzi is already getting great feedback from people noticing the unique barrels, said Cosgrove.
“Rather than having an industrial barrel sitting there in the middle of the green, I think this is a little more attractive. It also raises more awareness that there are people in town willing to take on these things,” said Cosgrove.
The First Selectman added that the town’s ready to provide more barrels to be painted, should more volunteer artists want to get involved.
“If anybody’s interested, we’re hoping to do more,” Cosgrove said.
For more information, call the Branford First Selectman’s office at (203) 488-8394. To learn more about BACA, find BACACT on Facebook. To learn more about BAC, find Branford Art Center Gallery and Workshop on Facebook.