May
2002
Interview
with the artist:
Trenton muralist Craig Cartlidge
By
Shamus Burke
Art
is thriving in Trenton. This interview is an attempt to catch
a brief glimpse at one of the people trying to bring more color
and beauty into the lives of the people living, working and playing
in the area.
Trenton
Downtowner: How did you start painting murals professionally?
Craig Cartlidge: I started the company eight years ago.
Straight out of Trenton State (The College of New Jersey), actually,
I was still in college and I was broke. So I started this thing,
[painting] Laundromats. Now I've done probably about 60 all over
Jersey.
TDT:
Tell me about the mural you painted at the Laundry Factory on
Lalor Street. What themes were you trying to portray in this mural?
CC: That's my brand new baby, right there. My new theme
now is cultural diversity…I love everybody, man. That's just
my thing…one love. So I did a street festival; it's the length
of my house. It's Puerto Rican, Caribbean, and Asian all mixed
in with some Italian and Irish. It's just a huge street festival
and I've been trying to find a way to tie people in and what I
found is that through music and dance I'm finding a way to tie
all these cultures that everybody says are so different. Cultures
sometimes clash in the neighborhoods, but everybody has music
and everybody has dance. It seems to tie it all together. Trenton
is so diverse, that is why there should be art. You have so many
different cultures. I like the idea of cultural diversity.
TDT:
Where else can people go to see your murals in Trenton?
CC: Most of my mural work is done in Laundromats, [but]
I just did a mural for River City (Café, at the corner
of Washington Street and Emory Street). I'm working on artwork
in Málaga (on Lalor Street), [and] I have a mural at J.B.
Winberie's in Princeton. It has about 30 portraits of people from
Princeton history.
TDT:
When someone commissions a mural, do you get to choose the subject
matter or are you asked to paint something in particular? How
does the process work?
CC: The beauty of what I do is that it's custom painting;
so, any idea that you can think of in your mind, we can bring
it to life. I get ideas from people, but sometimes [if you are
not an artist] it's hard to vocalize exactly what you want to
see. So you say 'I like the idea of a rainforest.' The rainforest
is huge. I could do ten thousand murals of the rainforest. It's
endless. So, I get an idea of what the person is looking to communicate
with the people are going to see it.
TDT:
What materials to you use?
CC: The big thing I use is house paint. I mostly use gallons
of latex. I never work in oil; it's all water based. With my stuff
it's what I can get a deal on. For the most part, because I work
huge-it's usually really big-I use house paint.
TDT:
If there were one thing you could get across to the people living
and working in Trenton, what would it be?
CC: People should want to help beautify this area. You
go to [Philadelphia] and it's got style…Trenton needs that
style, man. We're close and finally it looks like somebody cares,
but I'd like to see a little more culture. All the cultural things
are hidden in Trenton, it's all little neighborhood stores, it's
not out there, but why shouldn't it be? We are rich in [culture
and] heritage in Trenton, but you don't ever see that and I wonder
why?
