Mural dedicated in Newton

Officials dedicated the 800-square-foot mural painted on a building at Moran and Spring streets at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Oct. 5.

“For generations to come, people will be talking about this,” said Mayor Michelle Teets, noting the positive comments that the town has received from across the state and elsewhere.

”The end result is not just a mural but it’s a collaboration of love and pride for the town of Newton,” she added.

The mural was designed by Caren Olmsted and painted by volunteers in July and August in the basement of J Caldwell & Associates, Newton’s planner.

At the ceremony Thursday, Olmstead, an artist from Basking Ridge who has created more than 20 town murals, said it was an honor to be part of place-making in Newton.

”I truly loved my week in Jessica’s basement hanging out with all of you guys who showed up today. It’s truly meaningful to have people say, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s where I met my wife. It’s in the mural.’ That makes me really feel like I’ve done my job,” she said.

Before creating her design, she worked with Newton officials to come up with ideas for the mural that incorporated what residents love most about the town.

Town Manager Thomas Russo Jr. said he was familiar with her murals in Bernardsville, “which represent the bucolic nature and history of a town close to my home.”

”Ever since I started in 2008, I have often wondered about how we could afford to do place-making in Newton knowing that resources were limited,” he said, admitting to “downtown envy” of towns such as Morristown, Red Bank, Westfield and Madison.

He credited Newton’s planner Jessica Caldwell and the support of the Town Council with helping to obtain $125,000 in annual state grant funding from the Neighborhood Preservation Program and an annual commitment of $25,000 from Newton.

”These funds have allowed us to invest in our downtown with the decorative planters you see on Spring Street, the new sound system ... and now this amazing 800-square-foot mural.”