LEWISTON — The bare wall across Lisbon Street from the District Courthouse is not so bare anymore, thanks to a colorful mural painted by a cadre of international students last summer.
City officials joined members of the local Rotary Club to unveil a four-part mural on the eastern side of Lisbon Street, the street face of the former McCrory’s building.
A group of 25 Rotary exchange students, coming from 22 countries as far away as Taiwan, painted the mural this summer, spending a day in May in a vacant building across the street, just north of Fuel Restaurant.
None of the students involved in painting the mural were available Tuesday morning, according to Rotary Youth Exchange Coordinator for Maine Al Feather of Farmington.
“They all went home, so they’re all a couple thousand miles away,” Feather said. Instead, he brought two students currently involved in the exchange program — Maryane Fagundes, 17, of Brazil, and Yi-Han Chen, 16, of Taiwan. Fagundes is staying with a Rotary member in Belgrade; Chen is staying with Feather’s family in Farmington.
A key feature of the mural is a white signpost, with directional signs created by the international students.
“Each student created a sign of their own, to remind people where they came from,” Feather said.
Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said the mural had been in storage in Farmington since June, waiting to be unveiled.
“We needed everyone’s schedules, plus the mayor,” Nadeau said. “Of course, we needed the sun.”
The mural is painted on removable panels and can be preserved if building owner Paradigm Development LLC of East Holden comes forward with a redevelopment proposal.
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- Lewiston Mayor Larry Gilbert, right, speaks with Maryane Fagundes, center, 17, from Brazil, and Yi-Han Chen, 16, from Taiwan, after the unveiling of a mural painted by a group from the Rotary International District 7790 Maine Youth Exchange. The mural was unveiled on the old McCrory’s building across from Fuel Restaurant on Lisbon Street on Tuesday.
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