Murals a Splash of Color for West Orange Art Scene

Billy the Artist, Dan Fenelon and Ellen Hanauer make a dull wall come alive.

These New York- and New Jersey-based artists splash paint, destroy brushes and create larger-than-life murals that brighten up West Orange more than Thomas Edison.

"I cranked this one out in four days," said the internationally known artist who goes only by Billy the Artist, about his mural. He was charged with creating a Thomas Edison-themed artwork at the AMC Essex Green Cinema.

Billy, an East Village resident who recently returned from painting a skate bowl in Itacare, Brazil, and has a line of Swatch watches and iPhone covers that carry his art, said he's been an artist his entire life, but shot to fame 15 years ago after he created black and white city murals for the musical RENT.

Fenelon, a Montclair native who now lives in Madison, painted a jazz-themed mural on the west side of the Luna Stage building in the Valley Arts District.

"I wanted to fuze style ... as a gateway into the Valley Arts," he said about the project that took him 11 days to complete.

Hanauer constructed two murals. One is a bus that resembles cramped city transportation and is painted on a small shuttle. Some of those painted on the bus include outgoing Mayor John McKeon and Thomas Edison. The second mural is a family-friendly, kid-oriented one on the outside wall of the West Orange Library.

Hanauer said the bus mural took about two weeks to complete and the library one took about a week-and-a-half.

The idea of the murals started with McKeon, who, while visiting Portland, Oregon, discovered their public art scene and brought that idea to West Orange.

"It's fun to highlight three that are just the beginning of murals all over town, " he said while on a two-hour bus tour Wednesday of the artwork.

Susan Borg, West Orange's planning director, said she solicited about 100 artists and narrowed the list down to 20 responses and then chose the top three.

"We wanted someone who's painted murals before," she said.

Laura VanDyke, a West Orange resident and mother who frequents the West Orange Public Library, said the mural there helps define the township's art scene.

"I think West Orange is one of the best kept secrets and has a lot to offer," she said. "I'd definitely like to see more murals."

Mayor-elect Robert Parisi said he plans to continue the effort in embracing the arts in West Orange, including future murals.

The artwork was made by possible by private donations from Trenk, DiPasquale law firm, Essex Green Shopping Center and a nonprofit grant. McKeon said the murals cost about $5,000 each.