Ocean wall a collaborative
effort for area art group
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
Artists Cathy Gao, at left, and Bob Rakita, at right, members of the Visual Arts League, East Brunswick, painted murals along the walls of the YMHA Swim Club on Dutch Road as part of an ongoing project undertaken by the league.
EAST BRUNSWICK — It’s been two years in the making so far, but the illustration of a giant wall in front of the YMHA Swim Club on Dutch Road continues to be a work in progress.
The concrete expanse, which is about 8 feet tall and 300 feet wide, is being transformed into an "Ocean Mural," courtesy of the Visual Arts League (VAL), a grassroots group founded 12 years ago by East Brunswick resident and artist Judith Wray.
Members of the group have individually been painting sea-themed works on sections of the wall for the last two years, but the artists are excited to work together for the first time Oct. 12 when they will hold a "painting day" from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Each mural on the wall is framed with fish-shaped bricks — there are 150 so far, with room for about 400 — which have been decorated by artists from all over the world via the mail and the Internet, she said.
"I’m trying to bring people together with this wall," Wray said.
It all began in the summer of 1999, when the Human Relations Council in East Brunswick invited VAL to look at the concrete wall in the woods fronting the former Country Swim Club on Dutch Road, and to see if something could be done with it, she said.
Wray saw a world of possibilities in its 37 sections, which are each 8 feet high and 4 feet wide. Another two sections are each about 25 feet wide, serving as the canvas for the murals.
The idea to turn it into a work of art has been a hit with many area artists.
"Once they see it," she said of the artists’ reaction to the wall, "it’s irresistible. It’s so much fun."
The wall is hundreds of feet from the road. Regardless of the distance, its enormity makes it easy for people on the road to see.
Wray is excited to have all the artists work as a concentrated group next month.
"Nobody’s got the time to meet together," she said. "Many of the artists expressed an interest they would like to meet each other, so we’re going to try and do it."
The fish bricks are passed out and painted with outdoor acrylics or enamels, then cemented to the wall surrounding each 8-foot-high piece in a frame of bricks.
As for the murals themselves, they will be done using outdoor acrylic paints, and Wray said the subject matter will be the artists’ choices.
"There will be a lot of creative freedom there," she said. "Anything dealing with the ocean."
Nearly a dozen artists have already confirmed their participation Oct. 12, but Wray said her list keeps growing. About four or five of the artists are teenagers.
The Visual Arts League is a nonprofit international group that Wray founded and is president of.
"It gathers global energies and gives them a framework," she said. "We try to act as a bridge between artists and the community."
VAL’s artists, whose Web site is www.valweb.org, have painted about half the wall. And though progress will be made on the rest Oct. 12, Wray does not expect it to be finished that day.
But she’s just as glad.
"I’m in no hurry. We’re enjoying ourselves," she said.
The general public is invited to watch the artists do their thing on "painting day," the rain date for which will be Oct. 26.


