Check out new photos from inside the new Park Street Library @ the Lyric building, including a look at the beautiful reproductions of the hand-painted murals that once adorned the front of the Lyric Theater.
History of the original artwork:
The Lyric Becomes an Art Installation
In an effort to enliven the façade of the boarded Lyric Business Block and make a positive
contribution to the streetscape, two important artistic works were commissioned to pay homage to the heritage of the neighborhood’s Latinx residents. In 2000, painter and graphic designer Marcelina Sierra was hired by the Greater Hartford Arts Council (GHAC) as a Master Artist to teach and guide students in the creative and technical process of designing, developing and painting a series of murals for the City of Hartford at the GHAC Neighborhood Studios. The mural projects completed included Water of Dreams, a 52-foot mural permanently installed on Trumbull Street in downtown Hartford and Imagenes a 17-piece mural installed in the second and third floor window openings of the Lyric Theater Business Block. 67 (Ill. 29 and 29) Ms. Sierra served as the executive director of Guakia, Inc, a Puerto Rican cultural organization from 1989-1995.
A second art piece was executed by painter and sculptor Victor Pacheco on the boarded first
floor storefronts of the Lyric. (Ill. 30) The large mural highlights Pacheco’s Puerto Rican
heritage with images of the Puerto Rican flag. Pacheco was born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico and
raised in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended the University of Hartford Art School in Hartford, Connecticut where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and a Master of Arts in Sculpture from The Rhode Island School of Design. (There are panels from this artwork at the current Park Street Branch Library.)68 (Ill. 31)