The Heart of Art: New Sutter Creek Mural
For me, living Upcountry during the winter may as well be like living on the moon for how easy it is to go anywhere after dark. I’ve accepted my homebody nature. I love to sit by the fire with coffee and ponder the six to eight, soul-nourishing hours it takes to make a loaf of sourdough bread.
But, Hallelujah for daylight hours! I do get out of the house and if you’re not grabbing coffee, tasting wine, shopping for one-of-a-kinds or eating out in Amador, you’re missing out. If none of those sound appealing, going for a walk in one of our beautiful towns is enough to fill the soul of even the grumpiest hermit.
Enter a new, colorful mural on the north wall of Hotel Sutter in Sutter Creek. This week, I had the privilege of spending time with Marissa Ferreira, the talented artist behind the stunning new addition to town. The mural itself is captivating in color choice, scale and the details that harmonize with the culinary, natural and historic joy of living in and visiting our local spaces.
What struck me most about Marissa wasn’t just her talent—it was her approach to art. For Marissa, creating is rooted in human emotions, the ones an artist expresses through their craft and the ones the viewer experiences when engaging with art. Marissa’s mural, which is untitled, is meant to be touched, photographed and interacted with. It is, after all a selfie wall.
Marissa has the perspective of practicality and simplicity when it comes to the process that makes her projects, for her, very achievable. If I were to dream of creating a large-scale painting on a public business, my aspirations would stop there. I wouldn’t even know where to start and I would feel too intimated to do so.
She began her mural with the dream of creating. She then she spoke to the Amador County Arts Council who advised her on the first steps and helped connect her with the owners of Hotel Sutter who approved her design almost outright. She wrote a proposal to the City of Sutter Creek, who approved her project immediately. Within a handful of twelve to fourteen hour painting days with her husband, she was finished. Marissa was paid through a grant with Amador Arts and Hotel Sutter purchased materials. Voilà.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the project was how long it’s been since Sutter Creek saw a new mural. As Marissa worked on the corner of Main Street and Spanish, visitors stopped to admire the color and life that Sutter Creek has needed for decades. Children asked how they could do something like this in their future. Enthusiasts wanted to know if they could have a painting on their bedroom wall.
The mural has already become a focal point and gathering place in Sutter Creek. It’s a testament to the power art has to bring people together, like an immediate part of the community.
Amador Arts has been paying, helping and promoting artists since 1982. Visit our website to learn more: amadorarts.org.
Heart of Art is a Weekly column in the Ledger Dispatch promoting the benefits of the arts. Be sure to check it out in the on their website for the original publication!
By Kelly Curtis Amador Arts Chef Storyteller and local artist.