Paul Bass Photo
Black Panther met up unexpectedly Wednesday night with Batman in the back of a Dixwell shopping plaza.
Batman would later vanish into the night. Black Panther was here to stay.
There were witnesses. Many witnesses.
And plenty of candy.
The setting was a community Halloween “Trunk or Treat” Harvest Festival for neighborhood kids in the rear lot of the Stetson Branch Library in Dixwell Plaza. Batman turned out to be not Bruce Wayne, but Mark Davis, who turns 2 in December. He’s pictured above demonstrating his arm power at the urging of his grandma, Stetson staffer Rhonda Taylor (disguised as Betty Boop).
In conjunction with the party Stetson unveiled its latest public-art mural, of the Wakandan heroes from the film Black Panther. The costumed kids helped inaugurate the mural before getting down to the business of collecting candy. At least two Batmen were spotted in the crowd.
Stetson Branch Librarian Diane Brown commissioned local artist Katro Storm (both are pictured above) to create the new mural after ultraviolet rays from sunlight gradually destroyed a previous mural he painted there, for Access Health. As he began working on the months-long project, Storm planned to portray just Black Panther in the mural. But a lot of people walk by Dixwell Plaza’s parking lot. A lot of them saw Black Panther. A lot of them had strong opinions about which other characters belonged in the mural. By the time Storm was done, Nakia, Okoye, W’Kabi, and the rest of the gang had joined T’Challa on the wall.
The International Festival of Arts & Ideas paid Storm to paint the mural. The Freddy Fixer Parade folks and the New Haven Free Public Library system provided the paint. Masonic Brothers from Widow’s Son Lodge #1 (including, from left in photo, Freddie Darby, retired cop Willie Ponteau, Eddie Gist, retired firefighter Anthony Wells, and drill team maestro Doug Bethea) put up the new plywood. Storm said he plans to apply sealant to protect this mural from UV rays.
In the parking lot, the kids and some of their elders who came to Wednesday evening’s Halloween party paraded past parked vans that community volunteers tricked up. Social worker Steve Ingram (at right in photo) handed out the goodies, which at the ‘r Kids van included frisbees, pencils, erasers, and granola bars.
Wilbur Cross cheerleader Alyssa McIntyre handed out the Smarties from the van Dixwell Community Management Team leader Nina Silva (to Alyssa’s right in photo) decorated and supplied.
“Hi Dorothy!” “Hi Toto!” So went the patter as Wizard of Oz costumed Sabrina Yantey distributed Milk Duds from a second management team van.
Officer Monique Moore was stationed behind cruiser #73 to greet the kids with some seasonal squash to accompany their candy. “Sure!” she told many of her visitors. “You can have a pumpkin.”
“This is a true community collaboration,” remarked Diane Brown. “This is what the ‘village’ is supposed to look like.”