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In 2024, staff from the town of Montague, MA, participated in the 2024 Making it Public for Massachusetts Municipalities cohort trainings that focused on developing more fair and transparent practices for supporting public artmaking. After participating in the series of trainings, each municipality had the opportunity to put learnings into practice by putting out a Call for Temporary Public Art with funding from NEFA. In this interview with Suzanne LoManto, Director of RiverCulture in Montague, MA, Suzanne shares her reflections on the program and process.
Kim Szeto: Can you start by telling us a little bit about Montague and your role there?
Suzanne LoManto: Montague is a small town in Western Massachusetts with a population of 8,000 people. Unique to a town of this size, Montague has a municipal position dedicated to fostering art and culture. I am the proud director of the RiverCulture, our creative economy program which celebrates 20 years in 2026!
Montague was lucky to have municipal leaders who were ahead of the curve in their understanding that investment in the arts was a powerful tool for redevelopment. In the mid-1980’s, for example, the Town bought the Shea Theater building with the conviction that things would turn around for us economically. Today the Shea Theater Arts Center is fully renovated and enjoys sold-out shows from regional, national, and international touring performers.
Kim: Why was Montague interested in Making it Public for MA Municipalities?
Suzanne: I was interested in the Making it Public for Municipalities training because it was an opportunity to examine the Town’s practices around public art. While this is something I’ve done for years, taking time to reflect on how the process can be fairer and more transparent was a valuable exercise. The training was also an important education about 30B and other legalities surrounding public art installation. While this wasn’t my favorite part of the training, it was necessary for my professional development and well worth the time.
Kim: Tell us about Montague’s Call for Temporary Public Art and the Art that was funded through the call.
Suzanne: Joining me in this training were Parks and Recreation Director Jon Dobosz and Montague Public Libraries Director Caitlin Kelley. We used this opportunity to address a long list of goals. We wanted our temporary public art project to be installed in more than one Montague village. For the record, Montague has five including the downtown Turners Falls Cultural District. It was important that the project coincides with our summer events, lasting about three months. Thinking long term, we saw this opportunity as a way to build community support for permanent public art. Additionally this grant was a way to increase diversity in our public art relevant to age, race, ethnicity, language, gender, and sexual orientation. And finally, we wanted our project to be something new for Franklin County- something to reinforce our “underdog” identity.
About 20 years ago I was fortunate to live in Barcelona where wheat paste murals are common. I brought this idea to my partners, and we thought it checked all the boxes. In January 2025, we released a Call for Designers and Illustrators to select three artists for large scale temporary paper murals. The selected artists were responsible for two designs each, but the Town was responsible for printing and installation. We thought this was an important detail to encourage the widest group of applicants (after all, not everyone is comfortable installing a mural twenty feet in the air) as well as ensuring the quality of the final product. Selecting three artists and coordinating their community engagement process was triple the work, but well worth the results. Our selected artists were Sophie Foulkes (Amherst/Providence), Ponnapa Prakkamakul (Cambridge) and Aaron Meshon (Great Barrington).
Kim: Can you tell us a little more about community engagement? How has the local community responded to the murals?
Suzanne: Because our plan was to install murals in Turners Falls, Montague City and Millers Falls we conducted outreach in each village to identify themes that resonated with residents and their neighborhood history. This information was included in the Call for Designers and Illustrators. Once the winners were announced we scheduled three additional community meetings to discuss the draft designs with the artists. We took a fun approach to these meetings making them casual, drop-in style events to meet the artist, have a snack, and make recommendations. The information that the artists received from the community was very helpful in their final designs and built support and anticipation for the install.
Kim: What advice might you give to a future MIP participant?
Suzanne: My advice for future MIP participants is to dedicate the time to this process, which for Montague was about 16 months from training to installation. Select your project based on a set of goals, and a list of trusted partners. I have a strong relationship with Britt Ruhe of Common Wealth Murals and knew that I could count on her expertise for aspects of printing and installation. Likewise, loop in your administrators, department heads and department of public works whenever possible. Building interest in your project is important. You might need help and equipment.
I encourage municipalities to apply for the Making it Public for Municipalities training, which is an excellent way to recalibrate your current practices, engage the community, and launch a new project.
Wheatpaste Murals were installed in the Summer of 2025 at the following locations
- Downtown Turners Falls, Artist: Aaron Meshon
85 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA 01376 (3rd Street side of building)
199 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA 01376 (St Kaziemerz Society Building; 7th Street side of building) - Canalside Rail Trail, Artist: Sophie Foulkes
1 Avenue A, Turner Falls, MA 01376 (Montague Town Hall, back entrance)
20 Masonic Ave, Turners Falls, MA 01376 - Downtown Millers Falls, Artist: Ponnapa Prakkamakul
26 E. Main St, Millers Falls, MA 01349
41 E Main St, Millers Falls, MA 01349 (Franklin Street side of building)
