BRIDGEPORT — Three artists, including an internationally recognized muralist, said they answered the city’s call to help transform the downtown area into a “vibrant center of community activity.” But instead, they said they got brushed off.
“We went through multiple renditions of proposals and purchased the supplies and then after all that preparation the city pulled out without explanation,” said Alice Mizrachi.
Mizrachi, whose work has been featured in exhibitions at the Museum of the City of New York, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the United Nations and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington DC, this week filed suit with two other artists against the city and the state Department of Transportation.
She said they are seeking to recoup the $75,000 they spent preparing to do a mural on a downtown railroad underpass.
“If I don’t stand up for artists there is a good chance they (the city) will do this again,” Mizrachi said.
Officials for the city did not return calls and emails for comment. DOT officials said they do not comment on pending litigation.
The planned mural was part of the city’s Color It In project that has commissioned a number of artists to paint murals on the sides of city buildings and vacant spaces.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court by the artists’ lawyer, Jane Cowles, in April 2022, the city announced a call for artists to submit proposals for murals called the “Railroad Underpass Art Project.”
On Sept. 15, 2022, the plaintiffs signed a vendor agreement that has been sent them via email by Matthew Abbott, of the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, the suit states. After purchasing the required insurance for the project, the suit states on Oct. 17, 2022 Abbot sent an email to the plaintiffs stating that the Bridgeport Underpass Art Project was approved by purchasing. In the same email the suit continues Abbott stated that MTA and DOT have both reviewed the access agreement and have no issues with the process.
But on Dec. 29, 2022, the suit states that the department emailed the plaintiffs that the Railroad Underpass Art Project was cancelled.
“There was no explanation and no further contact from the OPED,” said Cowles. “My clients had spent their own money based on the assurance of the defendants that the project was going to go forward. These may be well-established artists but that doesn’t mean they have a lot of money they can spend for no reason.”
Abbott did not return calls for comment.
Mizrachi, who has worked on mural projects around the country and in Amsterdam, Berlin and Tel Aviv, said she has never had a situation where a municipality suddenly cancels a mural project with no explanation to the artists.
In the meantime, the model for the mural lies rolled up in Mizrachi’s studio.
It was going to be titled “Native Flora Fantasy,” she said.
“I researched the native flora and wildlife of the area and the mural was going to include the native flora along with birds and other wildlife,” she said.
