An enormous mural featuring late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former First Lady Michelle Obama will soon be appearing in Hartford.
The Community Renewal Team’s Women’s Empowerment Center at 330 Market St. in Hartford, which recently was renamed after Ginsburg, has put out a call for artist submissions to design such a mural. The brick wall is about 105 feet wide. The mural will be painted between the first- and second-floor windows, which sit 29 feet apart, and possibly wrap around the building if the artist wants to.
Lena Rodriguez, president and CEO of CRT, spearheaded the drive to rename the building and to create the mural.
“The work she has done and the barriers she has gone through paved the way for women in law, women in social justice, all women and all people in general,” Rodriguez said. “Learning about her passing was really hard. I thought, what could we do as a state to honor her?”
Rodriguez said she was inspired by the huge U Street mural of Ginsburg in Washington, D.C. and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s move to erect a statue of Ginsburg in Brooklyn, where Ginsburg grew up.
Rodriguez said she discussed a statue with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, but decided on this mural because she wanted to create a tribute soon.
“The government takes a long time to do something like that. At the CRT, we have control over this building and can do this immediately,” she said.
Rodriguez is including Sotomayor and Obama in the artwork to inspire young girls and women in Hartford. “[Ginsburg] paved the way for these other amazing women, like Sonia, who is a Latina, and Michelle, who is African American. All the women and girls in Connecticut, and in Hartford specifically, which is a minority community, can see themselves through that,” Rodriguez said.
Submissions will be accepted until Nov. 20 at 1 p.m. The winning artist will be awarded an as-yet-undetermined stipend and be given enough money to buy materials, Rodriguez said. The money for the project will be raised through foundational, corporate and individual donations.
Details on submissions can be found at crtct.org/en/business-solutions/vendors.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
