WILLIAMSBURG — Abigail Bennett, an undergraduate student at William & Mary, is currently designing and painting a mural at Colonial Casa, a nonprofit in Williamsburg.
The Colonial CASA Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program was founded in 1995 in response to a request for a CASA program from the Williamsburg James City County Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Court. The organization’s purpose is to recruit, train, and supervise community volunteers to serve as special advocates for children whose families have been cited for abuse and neglect by the Court.
Bennett had reached out to Civic and Community Engagement on campus to connect and volunteer her tim, and it was through this that she was able to connect with Colonial Casa about the mural. The materials for the project were funded by a grant from Civic and Community Engagement.
“I was really excited to use these skills that I’ve developed to serve the Williamsburg community,” explained Bennett, who is studying Self Design in Urban Studies and minoring in Philosophy. “All of this has been volunteer but this really has been an excellent opportunity for me to explore my interest in public art.”
While this isn’t Bennett’s first mural, she notes this is the first she has designed and painted solo. The project went through a collaborative process to decide the design.
Bennett said that the biggest challenge in creating the design was the shape of the wall, as it features an entrance into a hallway. To address that, she implemented a swirling pattern into the design. In addition, Colonial Casa had specifically requested uplifting words be featured in the piece, and portraits were also requested, prompting Bennett to feature the faces of the two children.
“[The most gratifying thing has] definitely been the portraits,” Bennett said. “I was worried about those beforehand, to be honest. I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out at such a large scale. I’ve done portraits in the back but never this size, so I was a little apprehensive about that, but seeing them come together really was satisfying and it feels a lot closer to done now that the portraits are finished.”
Bennett said the mural is nearly complete, however, there are some more details that need to be added before she is finished.
For more information about the Colonial Casa, visit its official webpage.
