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Read the press release here.

Murals Depicting 'American Experience' Painted on 250-Year-Old SI Home

By Nicholas Rizzi | August 11, 2015 6:04pm
 Historic Richmond Town asked two artists to paint a giant temporary mural around the landmarked Boehm House, built in 1750.
"Art This House"
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RICHMOND TOWN — The sides of a more than 250 year old house will become the canvas for a giant mural painted by local artists.

Historic Richmond Town invited two artists to paint temporary murals on the side of the Boehm House on the museum's grounds at 43 Arthur Kill Road, as part of its "Art This House" project.

Ed Wiseman, CEO of Historic Richmond Town, said the idea started as a practical one. The museum saw it as an opportunity to help get its historic homes re-painted.

"No matter how well you take care of an old house, no matter how great the job is you have to do it again and again and again," Wiseman said.

"In order to keep up with it — we have over 40 structures here — we need to find creative ways of doing that. It grew into this really significant cool, art project."

The museum partnered with Historic House Trust Contemporary Art Partnerships to gather donations for supplies and asked artists Mark Salinas and Joseph Barral to create murals using primer on the house.

Even though the house is landmarked, Wiseman said they had no trouble getting permission for the murals because they're only using primer that can easily be painted over. In early November, the museum will paint over their work and restore the home to it's original white, Wiseman said.

"We want it to be a pop-up mural, a flash mural, it just pops up and then it’s there and it goes," he said.

For the project, the museum selected from a pool of more than 40 artists who submitted ideas. Those who were chosen got one side of the home to paint their interpretations of the theme "American experience."

Wiseman expects the house to be completed by next week and people can watch the progress of the transformation on the museum's social media accounts.

"We’re trying to make a statement that art counts, that houses needed to be restored, and that history can be entertaining and interesting," he said. "These murals are billboards for American history."

For his side titled "Day Dress," Salinas, a Queens artists and founder of "7Train Murals," painted a giant blue silk embroidered dress from the 1870's that's on display in the museum.

“This public arts initiative is truly a one-of-a-kind project," Salinas said in a release. "I am thrilled to create a mural that combines fashion and architecture from the museum collections at Historic Richmond Town."

Barral, an art teacher at Notre Dame Academy, is creating a mural, called "In Progress," which depicts an "everyman or everywoman" painting a sprawling American flag across the side of the house.

The Boehm House, which is believed to be constructed in 1750, got it's name from Henry Martin Boehm, a teacher and Staten Island school commissioner, who bought it in 1855 and used it as a school, according to Historic Richmond Town.

It was moved from its original home in Greenridge to Historic Richmond Town in 1965 — it was installed on the foundation of the former Dr. Thomas Frost House, which was destroyed in an 1880 fire — and was landmarked in 1969. It has no furniture inside and serves as an exhibition displaying common construction techniques used in the 18th and 19th centuries and even has it's original handmade nails visible, Wiseman said.

Since the murals started going up, Wiseman said cars on Arthur Kill Road often slow down to stare at the works.

He said if the "Art This House" project is successful, the museum will look into bringing it to other structures around the property.

"Why should the other boroughs have cool art projects, why can’t we," he said. "Why can’t we do it on the Mid Island?"