On August 28, a new mural was unveiled in Springfield, MA. It adorns the wall of the Italian Cultural Center and depicts four generations of Italian Americans sharing a meal together, ranging from an old man to a baby girl. Painted by Eric Okdeh in collaboration with the organization, Common Wealth Murals, it is titled, “Sunday Dinner.” Interestingly, the people in the mural are based on real-life members of the Italian Cultural Center.
When I first saw this news story and glimpsed the accompanying photo, I thought the mural was nice, but not particularly significant. As an Italian American, I enjoy seeing things related to my heritage. But the statue genocide of the past five years has affected me so deeply that it is pretty much all that I can think about or care about. This mural wasn’t doing anything to combat the erasure of Christopher Columbus or the Confederacy from our public spaces, I thought, so I didn’t really care about it all that much.
But then I looked at the photo more closely. My eyes went to the stained-glass window behind the woman who is standing and holding a bowl of pasta. Specifically, the bottom right panel of the stained-glass window. Guess who I saw depicted in the stained-glass window?
Needless to say, I like this mural a lot. This mural represents a new depiction of Christopher Columbus in public art. And given the horrific events of the past five years, this a very significant thing indeed.
Check it out here via We The Italians