Titled “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest Until it Comes,” the mural is 60-feet high at its tallest point and it is painted on the back wall of the former Strand Theater overlooking Center Street Marketplace Park. The title is from a song composed by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, founding member of Sweet Honey in the Rock and inspired by Ella Josephine Baker, a civil rights leader and mentor with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Rutland Landlord Partners With Artists to Spur Creative Economy

The 77ART Residency was born out of an unusual alliance between Rutland businessman and property owner Mark Foley Jr. and retired Castleton University art professor and artist William Ramage. The residency is only the latest way in which Foley — with Ramage's help — is turning empty commercial spaces into places to create and exhibit contemporary art, at virtually no cost to the artists themselves.

Building a bridge between art and community

77 Art Center, now located at the Opera House on Merchants Row, will welcome 42 national and international artists to Rutland over the course of three month-long sessions — 14 each in June, August and October — a 600% expansion from its pilot year in 2018.

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