Island artist Linda Carnegie was hard at work this week on a new mural in the basement of the West Tisbury library. She’s painting a colorful underwater scene to adorn a corner of the basement in memory of the late Pathways Projects founder Marianne Goldberg, in the spirit of Ms. Goldberg’s love for the oceans around Martha’s Vineyard. The mural was commissioned by Ms. Goldberg’s sister, Donna Goldberg, along with memorial gardens in the courtyard. A dedication ceremony for the mural and gardens will take place from 3 to 5 pm this Sunday at the library, in collaboration with Pathways.
Standing on a stepladder Tuesday morning to put the finishing touches on in a few plover chicks at the top of a wall, Ms. Carnegie chatted about her love of murals. Growing up in Detroit, she vividly remembers Diego Rivera’s famous murals at the Ford Motor Co. “I used to just stand there as a kid and stare at them,” she said, as she moved her paintbrush over to flesh out the wing feathers of a flying tern. (Although she looks up many animals for reference, she said, “I can draw plovers and terns from memory.”) Below the ceiling-level beach lie deepening shades of blue ocean filled with turtles, seals, fish, lobsters, and seaweed.
This is the latest in a series of colorful wildlife murals that Linda Carnegie has painted at the West Tisbury library. A bustling scene of African animals can be seen from the front entrance, and the walls of the Children’s Room are awash with other creatures and scenes from her paintbrush.
