A River of Tiles

One of the first things a new visitor to the Westport Public Library encounters is the breathtaking "River of Names" mural on the first floor. A delight for the senses, the unusual artwork glows and ripples, giving the viewer historical information as well as rich visual rewards.

The nearly 2,000 hand-crafted bas-relief tiles in the mural tell the story of the town — and the land before the town was even established — from 1637 until 1998, when the 26-foot-long by 6-foot-high mural was unveiled in October. The work, created by Redding artist Marion Grebow, was commissioned in 1997 by the Westport Library Association as a donor tile mural to help raise capital for the $4.4 million expansion of the library.

BettyLou Cummings was co-chair of the Community Committee, which spearheaded the project. She said that the mural came about because, "we had to think of something that the whole community could be involved in." Cummings has been thrilled with the results, and said that, although quite a bit of work, "it was lots of fun."

As founder and chair of the town Apple Festival, begun in 1982, Cummings bought a tile that commemorates apple growing and cidering in the 1870s. That tile depicts her on a ladder as well as her husband and three sons.

"People saw it, and then wanted their own families on the tiles," she said. Though the large tiles were pretty pricey, ranging from $1,500 to $3,000, they sold out within 10 days, according to Cummings.

These 84 picture tiles all show scenes from Westport's history and feature an inscription. Everything from onion farming in the 1800s to George Washington's visits to the town, the Pequannock tribe selling the land known as "Machamux" to farmers in 1648, and the Toquet Opera House as built in 1892, are included.

"Le syteme Eno" as the French called the Eno traffic system, developed by William Eno circa 1900 and spread worldwide from his insitute in Westport, is pictured on one of the tiles. The 1922 purchase of 13.5 acres of beach and marsh at Compo (for the bargain price of $7,000) is memorialized, along with the Saturday Evening Post cover of December 4, 1943, illustrated by artiest Stevan Dohanos, depicting the Westport Honor Roll of WWII enlisted personnel.

The 1957 tile depicting Westporter Max Shulman's novel "Rally Round the Flag, Boys!" was sponsored by well-known locals Joanne Woodward and the late Paul Newman, both of whom starred in the movie based on the book. It was filmed in Westport in 1958, and the couple was so enchanted by the town that they moved in.

The smaller tiles, which cost $200 a piece, are inscribed by hand with names or short phrases. There are over 1,800 of them on the River of Names mural.

Maxine Bleiweis, the director at the Westport library, said of the mural that, "It's still a source of wonderment. I remember watching someone who had vision issues touching the mural, while a companion described the content of the picture tiles.  It's meant to be touched, and it is – especially by kids." 

Bleiweis added, "What we do almost every year is a scavenger hunt as part of our summer reading program, and we always use the mural for one of the clues.  That way the kids (and their families) get a chance to focus on it up close."

Dorothy Curran, then co-chair and a member of the library board, said of the mural that, "We wanted it to endure over time and have meaning to people." She points out that the content was a joint effort with the Westport Historical Society, of which Curran has recently been named president of the Board of Trustees.

The design plan for the mural included an effort to show not just men but women and young families, and to show all four seasons, according to Curran. She stated that the opportunity to have donors and their families represented in the tiles was a great spur to sales, but "it kind of drove Grebow [the artist] crazy." 

''I get a lot of joy and satisfaction out of working with an organization and coming up with something new and fresh,'' said Grebow in 1999 in an article from the New York Times. ''To bring people in to help support an organization, people who are normally not involved in that organization, it shows that you have touched people and brought out memories. It shows the next generation where they are coming from.''

Grebow herself was raised in Stamford, and her work can now be found in New York, Tennessee, Illinois, Texas, and Jerusalem. Local projects include the Connecticut Audubon Center at Fairfield, and Earthplace, The Environment Center,
also in Westport.

What is remarkable about Grebow's mural for the library is how it works on so many levels. Along with helping the town achieve its fundraising objectives, the piece teaches and memorializes the history of the town. It is visually and tactilely pleasing, and it works within the space, echoing the rippled light effect of the river just outside and in view of the windowed hallway.

The artwork even has a sense of humor, placing current residents in historical settings in an often whimsical way, as is reflected in the tile showing the Pequannock tribe selling land to farmers in 1648. A demurely presented women emerging from the family tent is in fact one of the donors who purchased the tile.

A memorial work of art that is still entrancing and amusing some dozen years after creation is in a good position to do so for decades to come. 

 "I am absolutely proud to have been involved," said Curran. "It's a beautiful and enduring work."

Patrice Fitzgerald is a Friday arts columnist for Westport Patch.