Muralists add a splash of color to downtown Amityville

The intersection of Broadway and Oak Street in Amityville Village is about to get a little more colorful.

The village selected two artists to paint three murals on buildings on the east side of the busy corner. The effort is one piece of a larger plan to bring new life to the area using a portion of the $10 million the village was awarded in 2022 from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative. The artwork is part of Amityville’s facade improvement program, one of 11 village projects approved by the state for that funding.

Work began about two weeks ago on the paintings, which will be on the sides of New China restaurant and St. Martin's Cloak Room Thrift Shop.

Village officials in August put out a call for artists, stating in their request that they wanted “to celebrate Amityville's waterfront heritage, history, and vibrant community through public art.” Artists were given a budget of about $10,000 to $15,000 per mural.

The village received submissions from 39 artists who displayed a “broad spectrum of talent, experience and styles,” Mayor Mike O’Neill said. A committee comprised of officials and locals with an arts background then narrowed the pool based on a breakdown of weighted criteria: 35% artistic quality and creativity, 25% overall fit with the project, 20% portfolio and experience, 10% budget, and 10% ability to meet the schedule.

Committee member Juliet Schreckinger, an artist and illustrator who lives in Amityville, said she has done murals and was looking to see who might be best up to the task at hand.

“Being able to draw small-scale is very different from being able to draw 40-foot murals,” she said. “It’s a very hard undertaking, and as amazing as an artist might be, it might be difficult to translate that to a mural.”

The two artists chosen

The committee picked artists Bonnie Siracusa, of East Meadow, and Kevin Clark, of upstate Lake Luzerne.

Siracusa will paint a streetscape image on the south side of the New China building, done from the perspective of someone standing inside the gazebo that's in the heart of downtown.

Clark is painting the other two murals: a water scene that incorporates two long-gone historic hotels, and a classic postcard image with a giant “Amityville” that incorporates aspects of the village within the letters.

The images celebrate Amityville’s history and show residents that an investment is being made in the village, O’Neill said.

“It’s amazing how something as simple as taking a white wall and making it into a postcard or views from the gazebo, it shows residents and visitors that it’s a place that we care about,” he told Newsday. “Public art lets people know what the community feels about itself, and it’s showing what makes Amityville so special.”

Siracusa, who has been a muralist since 1984, has been contending with the sun’s glare as she paints.

“Outside has a lot of challenges,” she said. “But it’s a very exciting way to get your work out there and express yourself. It’s the pride of the neighborhood — they’re so happy to see something like this, so you feel like you’re doing good for the universe.”

'A taste of Amityville history'

Clark said he’s been doing murals for 35 years and lived for about five years in Amityville. He said in addition to the vibrant images, murals also provide history lessons.

“People will see things that they weren’t aware of, that they don’t teach in school,” he said. “They can look at this and get a taste of Amityville history right there on a wall.”

Public art also becomes a landmark and a point of pride for a municipality, he said.

“It becomes a destination,” he said. “It becomes part of the downtown and shows Amityville in its best light, so it’s like an advertisement for everything that is Amityville.”

Tawaun Whitty, co-director for Northport-based Vision Long Island, which has been managing the facade program, said the murals will be up at least 10 years.

“They give homage to the past, but they also invite people in to be part of the future,” she said. “… Because they put so much diversity in it, they’re saying we are welcome and open to everyone.”

The murals are anticipated to be completed by mid- to late November.

Brian Cheung, co-owner of New China, told Newsday he was excited to offer the walls of his building for the murals, which he said will “add color, creativity and a strong sense of community to the area” for years to come.

“It has been rewarding to be part of an effort that helps transform the streetscape and creates something that residents and visitors can enjoy every day,” he said.