Help Us Bloom on Capitol Avenue!
Your donation will help enhance our church's community space, fostering a welcoming environment that celebrates unity and spirituality through vibrant public art.
Mural Update:
Dear FPCH Community, Friends, and Supporters of the Blooming Strawberries Mural Project,
We are writing today with an update on the progress of the mural that you have supported with either financial support, prayers, and/or enthusiasm. First and foremost, we thank you for that support, and for your ongoing care for our community.
The Mural Team has met several times since the unexpected death of artist Tao LaBossiere (see below). Even in the midst of her grief, Tao’s wife and artistic partner Amy has been very generous with her time and insights, as we decide how best to complete the Blooming Strawberries Mural.
Amy has recommended a local artist, Chris Gann, to take over the project. The Mural Team met with Chris and Amy, and we are impressed with his talent, enthusiasm, and desire to finish the mural in a way that will honor Tao and Amy’s design. Chris is comfortable with and has executed other designs using the trompe l’oeil (trick of the eye) technique. Amy will work closely with Chris to turn over the design plan and paints that he will require, and will remain available to consult with him and us, as needed.
Amy has graciously agreed to finish the medallions on the street-facing church doors. She has already begun work on the medallions and the Team feels strongly that she should be the one to complete them. This part of the project should be done in the near future.
We are awaiting the exact timing of when Chris can begin. He hopes to do so before the cold weather interferes with the paint’s adherence. In any case, the mural should be completed by Spring 2025.
Please contact Pastor Nancy or any member of the Mural Team with questions or concerns. Again, we thank you for your patience, your continued support of our church and its mission, and for your care as we continue to bloom and grow in the city of Hartford.
In partnership,
The FPCH Mural Team:
Corinna Tamburini, Anita Marchant, Nida Rana, Dana Barcellos-Allen, Annelieke Schauer, and Rev. Nancy Baseel
“Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies.”
The FPCH community is heartbroken to learn of the unexpected death of artist Tao LaBossiere in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Tao died peacefully following a massive stroke. Tao was truly a Hartford treasure, a talented muralist, artist, and sculptor who championed other artists, cared deeply about Hartford, and gave so much of himself to his community and his creations. He had a gift for mixing deep meaning and whimsy in his art. The city is dotted with his work, but the piece that means the most to us is, of course, the Blooming Strawberries mural he and his wife Amy designed and began painting on our Administrative building this summer. Even in its current unfinished state, you can see his skill with trompe l'oeil and envision how he would make the two buildings look like one. We can imagine, too, his vision for signs of flourishing and interdependence in the vision of the strawberry plant in every stage of its life cycle.
Tao especially captured the hearts of our Mural Team, who spent a good deal of time with him imagining, planning, and dreaming together. Tao spent time around our church to learn about our congregants and who we are, with an innate understanding that any art that represents us needs to reflect the life and values of the church.
We also came to know and love Tao's bereaved wife, Amy, a phenomenal artist in her own right, and Tao's lifelong love. We grieve with Amy, and all who knew and loved Tao, and humbly acknowledge that we have lost a treasured soul. May we each learn to see the world's beauty through his eyes, even as we brave the sorrows of being human. In our tradition, we affirm that we are never separated from our Creator, our life source, our Higher Power. And so while we grieve Tao's death, we hold another truth: that he is at one with all that is, and indeed, as Longfellow said: "Dead he is not, but departed, for the artist never dies."
Details of what's next, including the celebration of Tao's life, are forthcoming.
Please join me in extending prayers of consolation, comfort, and love to Amy LaBossiere, and prayers that Tao LaBossiere rest in God's eternal love and embrace.
In grief and faith, and in thanksgiving for a life well lived,
Pastor Nancy
Adjacent to our beautiful 1870 Vermont granite and Portland brownstone Gothic and Romanesque church is a plain brick 1930 office wing. With your help, we can expand the facade of our church and bring a vibrant, colorful symbol of community and spiritual growth to a high-visibility area of Hartford.
Capitol Avenue is a major gateway into the capital city. Thousands of vehicles travel this road daily to and from downtown, highways, courthouses, local businesses, and government and private office buildings. Our mural project will:
Honor the church’s historic façade while bringing it into the future with a cultural enhancement
Increase visibility of our church campus
Beautify this stretch of Capitol Avenue
Generate goodwill
Uplift the community
And enhance the neighborhood.
Please join us as a partner in bringing this mural to life!
“Blooming Strawberries” by Tao LaBossiere
Your donation will help enhance our church's community space, fostering a welcoming environment that celebrates unity and spirituality through vibrant public art.
Our goal is to raise $15,000 via 150 donors by June 30, 2024. Please give today!
Our mural project, in collaboration with RiseUP for the Arts and artist Tao LaBossiere, will bring a new piece of public art to Hartford and beautify our neighborhood along the highly trafficked Capitol Avenue.
The artist will match the look and feel of our 154-year-old church and create architectural unity by using a trompe l’oeil technique extending across the plain white brick office building that was added in 1930. It will include:
Vibrant strawberries and blossoms, playing on the theme of the church’s longtime Strawberry Festival community event and fundraiser, and representing spiritual growth.
Pollinators such as honeybees and Blessing moths, to symbolize how we grow our community.
Medallions on street-facing church doors that feature welcoming symbols of peace and inclusivity per FPCH’s values.