Mural in process.
Paul Mayer, owner of Cafe Nine on the corner of State and Crown, looked up at the mural of jazz legend Sun Ra that now graces the side of the building that houses his bar.
“I’m blown away,” he said. It was his first time seeing it in person, along with the accompanying boom box painted on a Dumpster.
The project, initiated just over one week ago and completed on Sunday, was the brainchild of Michael Pollack of Visual Cut, commercial cinematographer and resident of the same building.
The project came to fruition while Pollack and artist M. Deangelo (also known as @refractualism) were planning projects together.
“Then Covid struck,” said Pollack. “I had thought about a mural on the wall” — the side of the building facing the parking lot on Crown Street next to Cafe Nine — “so I said let me see what Mike and Paul say.”
“Paul” meant Mayer, Cafe Nine’s owner. “Mike” meant Mike Reichbart, who owns the building and used to own Cafe Nine.
Much to Pollack’s delight, both said yes. “Next I thought, ‘What do we do?’ and Paul suggested Sun Ra, the avant-garde jazz bandleader who “traveled the spaceways from planet to planet.” Reichbart OK’d the plan.
The Dumpster in the front also caught Pollack’s eye. “I had the idea of the boom box, so I asked the dumpster company,” All American Waste. They said yes as well.
MIchael Pollack/Visual Cut Photos
Mayer felt Sun Ra was a good choice “because he encompasses the past, present, and future. That open-mindedness of Cafe Nine: where it was, where it is, where it’s going.” Mayer pointed out that Pollack — the man behind the aerial photos of the New Haven protesters that went viral — is all about “experimentation, art, and music…. He led the charge, did all the work to make it happen. We all worked together, but he did the leg work to get it going.”
Mayer continued to look up at the mural. “This fuels positivity into the neighborhood,” he said.
Dumpster in process.
Pollack said that people were already coming out of the building and down the street expressing their appreciation for the new work. The mural was finished on Saturday over a span of 12 hours. The dumpster got its paint job on Sunday in the neighboring garage due to the rain. According to Pollack, @refractualism has been involved in other group projects before, and is now partnering with Pollack, who has more of an art director role, managing projects and “coming up with visions” that the two can complete.
“It reminds me of the DIY bands,” said Mayer, “people creating their own content and staying true to themselves.”
With the paint on the side of Cafe Nine barely dry, Pollack has already been approached about doing other work in a similar vein elsewhere. He’s gearing up to pitch other installments as well, including places where other dumpsters are prominently displayed.
“People are going to want to take pictures in front of dumpsters,” he said with a big smile.
Pollack hopes this is just the beginning — not just for his own projects, but for artists everywhere who have a desire to create public art.
“I hope it will motivate and inspire others,” he said. “We have such an art-inspired city here, with its own art museums and galleries, but there’s barely any art on the buildings. They’re the perfect canvases.”
The new view down Crown St.
“This went from idea to mural in a week,” he continued. “We wanted to create a positive art vibe and want the art to do all the talking. The use of the dumpster was to show how we can bring the city alive. It doesn’t have to be a wall or a building, it can be anything.”
Mayer agreed. “This brings hope that art is flourishing, even in the down times,” he said.