Artist: Russell Rainbolt
Date: 2001
Material: Oil and enamel on lexan, gold leaf
Location: A. Conte West Hills Magnet School interior. 511 Chapel Street.

New Haven artist Russell Rainbolt designed these murals with the overarching theme of "passages" as his concept. Visual continuity is achieved by using red, yellow and blue squares throughout each of the four murals.

The first mural Passages: Entering the Earth from Earth to Moon (first title Entering the World: Image and Language) features large scale paintings of the earth and moon, while the mural ends in the development of written language (cuneiform, hieroglyphics and ancient Phoenician/Greek). The second mural Passages in Music (earlier title was Sound and Script) features abstract shapes and musical notes that dance across the surface. Beethoven, Gregorian chants and the score from La Traviata are painted in a soft sand-like background.

The third mural Passages in Literature and Architecture (earlier title Foundations: Architecture and Literature) combines elements of literature and architecture while the fourth mural is centered on the rich history of New Haven as seen through iconic visual images, such as East Rock, Roger Sherman and Cinque.

Rainbolt is well known in New Haven as an artist capable of working on a very large scale: having been employed for many years as a billboard painter for Barrett Outdoor Communications, Inc.

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