Artist creating mural at thrift store to highlight Community Action mission

Photos by Ginny Kropf: Community Action staff check the progress of a mural being created by artist David Burke of Bergen on the south wall of Community Action’s Main Street Gifts, Thrift and More store. From left are Debbie Schiavone, payroll administrator; David Burke; Renee Hungerford, director of Community Action of Orleans and Genesee; and Cassie Healy, head of the thrift store located on the corner of Main and Chamberlain streets in Albion.

ALBION –  Having a mural painted on Community Action’s Main Street Gifts, Thrift and More Store is a dream come true for director Renee Hungerford.

“I have wanted to have a mural painted since the first day I came here,” Hungerford said recently, as she viewed the progress with artist David Burke of Bergen; Debbie Schiavone, payroll administrator at Community Action; and Cassie Healy, who runs the store.

The program was made possible with a grant from the Statewide Community Regrant Program which is administered locally by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.

Hungerford learned about the possibility of a grant through Schiavone, payroll administrator at Community Action, who met GO Art!’s director Gregory Hallock at Leadership Orleans. Hallock mentioned some local arts projects and programs, including murals.

Schiavone worked with GO Art! to apply for the grant, and as soon as it was approved, Burke, an acrylic painter who specializes in murals, was contracted to do the project.

“It is meant to show inclusivity,” Hungerford said. “We want to show our community focus and that everybody is welcome.”

Burke has been painting on and off for most of his life, but since he turned 60 nearly a decade ago, he has been painting like crazy, he said. He said murals are fun to paint. His first one was on the library in Bergen and he’s done several in Genesee County since then.

When he was interviewed last week, he was waiting for the humid weather to go away so he could start applying color. He said he still had to add the Community Action logo, some cornstalks and woods.

This mural being painted on the south wall of the Community Action store on South Main Street will showcase all the ways Community Action is involved in the community.