The Ticonderoga Mural Project

Public art is an important revitalization tool because it transforms highly visible spaces, strengthens community pride, creates reasons for people to stop and spend time in an area, and helps residents and visitors see overlooked properties and public spaces in a new way. It can encourage private investment, support the revitalization of vacant or underused spaces, increase foot traffic, and demonstrate that a community is active, creative, and committed to its future. Research has shown that public art projects can be among the lowest-cost, highest-impact investments a community can make, creating visible change while helping build momentum for broader redevelopment.

The original mural on the side of the Ti Barbershop building near the Sunoco station on Champlain Avenue was designed by Ticonderoga High School art teacher Britney McCarthy Shaw and her students. It was painted by Jim Beaty, Seddon Beaty, Patty Hogan, Keeley Andrushko, and Maryann Andrushko, with support from Aubuchon Hardware, Bill Best, and Paul Connery.

The original mural on the retaining wall in front of the hospital on Wicker Street was also designed by Britney McCarthy Shaw and her students, including Maura Jebb. It was painted by the students, along with family members and friends, with mentoring from local artist Joan Pulling. Funding was provided in part through an Essex County Arts Council CAP Grant, supported by public funds from Essex County and private donations.

Britney has been a longtime member of the Walls Between Waters Public Art Committee and has played an important role in the steering and implementation of the apprentice program, the in-school classroom experience connected to the new hospital wall mural, and the Walls Between Waters public art festival.

Both murals have now been replaced, although only the hospital retaining-wall mural was originally intended to be repainted every few years by new groups of students. That ongoing model was designed to keep the project active while giving each new group of students a meaningful, hands-on public art experience.

TRA is proud to have played a part in the beginning of Ticonderoga’s public art program and to see that work continue through new murals, new students, and new generations of local artists.