A fundraiser is underway to support creation of a ‘Voices in Color’ mural in West Hartford.

By Ronni Newton

Parents, educators, and advocates are collaborating with the West Hartford Public Schools’ Deaf Services Team to create a mural as a permanent and visible tribute highlighting the town’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.

Renowned mural artist Michael Rice – whose previous works include the highly visible “Reawakening Wonder” mural at 50 Morgan Street in Hartford – has committed to the project, and is working in collaboration with DHH organizations, the school district, Town of West Hartford and other schools, universities, and local businesses to create “something that reflects pride, resilience, and inclusion,” according to the description on civic crowdfunding platform Patronicity, where a fundraiser is currently underway with the hope of qualifying for a matching grant from Sustainable CT.

Patronicity fundraising page image

The fundraiser launched on Jan. 6, and as of Tuesday afternoon, $5,105 of the $6,000 goal to earn the matching grant and cover the project costs has been raised through contributions from 34 patrons. The fundraiser closes on March 7.

A site for the mural has been identified, and it will be located on a highly visible wall above the east entrance to the Noah Webster Library in Blue Back Square. The installation will include a permanent plaque and storytelling components to honor the legacy of the DHH community, and once complete will be unveiled at a public event.

There is a sizable deaf community in West Hartford, home to the American School for the Deaf, which was founded in 1817 and is the oldest permanent school for the deaf in the United States.

In addition, according to the fundraiser description, West Hartford Public Schools’ Deaf Services “supports over 80 students and families from PreK through grade 12 with varying degrees of hearing loss. Teachers of the Deaf provide individualized instruction and consultative services using aural/oral methods, sign language, and hearing aid/cochlear implant assistance depending on each child’s needs. Students also have access to one on one ASL interpreters in the classrooms, educational audiologists, speech therapists, and a number of other services decided on by the staff and the student’s families.”

For more information or to donate to the mural, visit the project page.

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