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Muralist Melanie Stimmell at work.
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First peek at Melanie’s Westmoreland Courthouse murals.
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Detail of Melanie’s Westmoreland Courthouse murals.
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Unfinished mural detail.
It was early 2014 and, by a series of crazy synchronicities and ridiculously good timing, the Town of Montross managed to nab not just any muralist for the revitalization project; they nabbed Melanie Stimmell and her team. Stimmell is one of the most sought-after street painters in the world and the only woman awarded the prestigious title of Maestra Madonnara—Master Street Painter—in both Italy and Germany. Then a funny thing happened along the way. After she and her partner, Anat Roen, finished three large-scale murals and refurbished a fourth, not only had the charming artist stolen the hearts of Montross residents—who hired her to come back and do seven more murals across the town!—but she found herself hopelessly smitten with the quaint little town and the people who felt like family.
“We just didn’t want to leave,” says Melanie, “and I remember after my husband and I left Montross the second time, I thought to myself, ‘Now we have to come up with a new project so we can go back.’ There’s definitely a special energy there, but what impacted us most was the people.”
By the fall of 2015, Melanie and her husband started talking about how to make Montross a part of their lives for good. “We knew we couldn’t move there permanently, but we had to find a way to spend more time there.” Then it hit her: why not do a mural workshop in Montross? She could teach mural painting, plein air painting, soft pastels, portraiture, even street painting workshops for high school students. As crazy ideas tend to do, it snowballed into “What if we buy a house downtown, with studio space and an attic where students can come from around the world and stay?”
Today, that wild notion has become a reality. Melanie and her husband are the proud owners of Montross Mural Studio in their new house in downtown Montross, with the first muralist workshop slated for July 6–12. Participants will stay at their home and class sessions will be held in the workshop and walls used as practice space. “And,” says Melanie with a laugh, “we may also have a wall in Montross where students can actually experience painting their first street painting on the side of Bridget’s Bouquets.”
Which begs the question: could there be a mural trail in the works?
For more information, go to montrossmuralstudio.com and wetalkchalk.com.