Passage of Time

“Passage of Time” is a mural that reflects the theme of past, present, and future of Trenton. It was developed through a series of community meetings that took place at several locations around the city. From the first meeting, the theme was developed. Through the course of the other meetings, the theme was broken down into parts and further discussed and investigated. The location of the mural is on the side of a rubber factory that still houses the 125-year-old company Home Rubber.

The mural depicts the theme in three specific ways, which relate to the history of the actual building. The past is drawn in charcoal, referencing a historic photo of Trenton circa 1900. These drawings cover cinderblock windows that are located on the north part of the building. As you move south along the walls of the factory, there is a main wall that still has a historic ghost sign for Home Rubber. This wall leads to the next section of the mural, which incorporates imagery of the actual machinery that is being used within the factory. The mural moves from this machinery to a factory’s doorway that gives view to the Delaware River and the Trenton Makes Bridge. From this wall, the mural continues running south evoking the flow of the Delaware River, which flows underneath the bridge and around its foot, as it radiates down a 300 ft. wall flowing and moving in perspective. The imagery ends in the highlights of the surface of the water symbolizing the future.

The main inspiration behind this mural was the river and the way it moves through all three sections of the mural. Something that was of great importance when considering the design was the vantage points of seeing the mural. The main way people will see these walls are either on the Riverline Rail System, by car on Route 129, or standing on the platform waiting for the train (which is on the north side of the factory).

It was important to keep the imagery on the scale of moving vehicles, while transitioning into imagery that could be appreciated by pedestrians. The idea of using perspective was something that I found
helpful in conceiving of the space and moving the viewer throughout it, as well as the use of color moving from black and white towards increasing saturation.

There was one community paint day which was a great success, with over 125 people coming out to help paint. There were also several great volunteers that came out throughout the process and helped paint. Another aspect of involvement were the students from Jane Golden and Shira Walinsky’s class at Princeton, and a paint workshop with the PEI kids at a community center. This was Trenton Mural Arts Program’s first mural, in collaboration with MAP.