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Muralist to transform wall in Huntington

BY MICHAEL R. EBERT | michael.ebert@newsday.com

6:50 AM EST, March 6, 2008

Baker's "Archways" mural in Newburgh; he's working on Huntington image.

When artist Garin Baker makes a mural, he wants people to stop and say, "Wow."

"I'm not satisfied unless I get that reaction," said Baker, a resident of New Windsor who's created dozens of murals nationwide. "I'm looking to evoke an emotional response."

This summer, the muralist hopes to bring that exact reaction to Huntington Village when he transforms a 4,500-square-foot exterior wall at the Waldbaum's on Wall Street. As part of the project, Baker will lead a team of teen apprentices who will be selected from among more than 300 Huntington applicants in the design and creation of the piece.

"We don't do 'plop' art, where an artist simply comes in and reproduces a mural," said Baker, who calls himself a traditionally-trained realist painter. "The artwork will be totally original and unique to Huntington. We're looking to portray the essence of the town."

To be selected for the mural, Baker along with 23 other muralists nationwide submitted a digital portfolio and traveled to Huntington to meet with town officials last year. As of earlier this week, Baker said he has yet to brainstorm ideas, but he hopes to assemble his team of apprentices this spring through the Huntington Youth Bureau's Project EXCEL with a completion date of late summer.

To start, the teens will choose a theme and take photos, which they will manipulate on the computer, followed by scale drawings presented to the Huntington Arts Council. When the concept is finalized, the artists will transfer the image to the wall using a projector and tracing the lines by hand.

"Murals are extremely misunderstood," said Baker, whose company Carriage House specializes in apprenticing young artists. "People think that an artist just arrives with paint and starts painting the wall immediately. It's not like that at all."

To date, Baker's biggest mural is a 220-foot-long artwork completed in November along the Hudson River that features a series of archways inside a faux brownstone wall. Baker has been told it is the largest single work of public art on display in New York State. It took a team of 10 artists about nine months to complete.

For the smaller Huntington mural, Baker is being paid a sum of $50,000.

"Right now, the wall is a huge blank canvas with great potential to become a true showpiece for Huntington," said Councilman Mark Cutherbertson, who came up with the idea. "It's a ratty-looking wall and it's our hope that, once completed, it'll serve as a source of pride."

According to Cuthbertson, the Waldbaum's wall borders a municipal parking lot that the town purchased three of four years ago.

Alternate artists selected for the project were Joshua Sarantitus of Minnesota and Nestor Madalengoitia of Poughkeepsie.