Students paint Waterbury history mural

Architect Barry Svigals, at right, watches students paint a mural at the newly opened Jonathan K. Reed Elementary School in Waterbury. The students collaborated with Svigals and a group of volunteers from his New Haven-based architecture firm, Svigals + Partners, to paint the colorful mural in the state-of-the-art school’s cafeteria. The Reed School, designed by Svigals + Partners, incorporates a number of sculptures and bas-relief panels that reflect the city’s heritage as a clock-making town. The students’ mural depicts an abstracted and flowing timeline, evocative not only of Waterbury’s history but also of the Naugatuck River, which was central to the city’s growth. Svigals worked directly with the students to develop the mural. Plans call for the school administration, student body, and the rest of the community to take ownership of the mural, altering it to reflect the continued passage of time and new developments in the Waterbury area.