Kwadwo Adae captures community through murals in library talk
Adae, a New Haven artist who has commissioned several murals for the city, presented his work at Mitchell Library on Monday night.
Helen Huynh, Contributing Photographer
Monday night, New Haven-based artist Kwadwo Adae spoke at a local library about his murals.
The New Haven Free Public Library Mitchell Branch, hosted Adae from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12 as part of their gallery program.
Adae is a visual artist and muralist. After receiving a Masters of Arts in Painting from New York University in 2005, he started Adae Fine Art Academy, located on 840 State St., where he offers individualized instruction to students of any ability in their preferred medium, ranging from graphite to watercolor. The school’s pedagogy is student-centered, tailoring the curriculum to individual aspirations and pacing.
Adae’s presentation focused on his work as a public artist, both locally and internationally, which he shared with attendees through projected photographs on Monday evening. He revealed a total of 13 murals he had painted, whose locations ranged from schools in Guatemala to New Haven’s Basset Street pavement. Adae focuses on centering his practice with the local community.
“No matter where you are in the world, kids just want to create art,” Adae said.
His public artwork titled “Elm City Footrace,” located on Farmington Canal Greenway in the Newhallville neighborhood, was commissioned by the City of New Haven and completed in 2016. The mural vibrantly depicts six three-legged runners on a lush, green pathway. Adae said that he would offer the brush to any pedestrian running by, accumulating 40 regular volunteers who worked alongside him on this project.
In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the City of New Haven also commissioned Adae to tag Basset Street in support of Black Lives Matter. Adae said the “Bassett Street Black Lives Matter Project” required 40 gallons of yellow paint and had 60 community volunteers in total. Unfortunately, the mural has since disappeared due to heat and weather conditions on a majorly trafficked road.
Cassandra Mulcahy, Adae’s partner and gallery attendant, said, “[Art] really helps us to make sense of everything that is going on and helps contextualize it.”
Adae has also painted murals in local schools. He painted “The Three Graces,” figures from Greek mythology holding chalk-painted tablets, as an anti-gun violence memorial for High School in the Community in 2022. Last year, Adae painted “Progress Pride Chameleon,” funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, at Elm City Montessori School to create a welcoming environment for LGBTQ youth, allies and families.
“The work I do needs to be in conjunction with the community,” Adae said.
Adae has also painted community-centered murals internationally. His mural “Creatures of the Garhwal Himalayas” is located at the Ashram Paryavaran Vidyalaya School in the Garhwal Himalayas of Northern India. Another project titled “Huipile Wall North” and “Huipile Wall South” were created in two weeks with local children at La Escuela Chu’ul in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. These murals were completed in 2016.
Marian Huggins, the library’s branch manager, said the gallery displays the work of a local artist each month with an opening reception occurring on weekends. Currently, the artwork of Jill Harrington Nichols, a Connecticut painter, is on display. The gallery features 18 of her landscape paintings.
The NHFPL Mitchell Branch is located at 37 Harrison St.