A new mural has been painted at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Main Street in downtown Boonton. The artist, Brooklyn-based muralist Jenna Morello, has ties to nearby Kinnelon, according to Morristown Daily Record.
Morello was commissioned to create the Main Street mural, the Daily Record reported. The outlet said she worked on the corner building’s exterior last week, painting a piece intended to greet people arriving in town.
A Typeface That Honors Boonton's Industrial Past
The lettering draws on Boonton’s manufacturing history, according to the Daily Record, giving the mural a visual connection to the town’s industrial past.
Downtown’s Planning and Industrial Context
Boonton’s commercial corridors include both Main Street and Myrtle Avenue, and the town has six officially recognized historic districts, according to the New Jersey Highlands Council. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs says Boonton Ironworks began manufacturing iron products as early as 1747, providing historical context for the mural’s reference to the town’s industrial past.
A 2008 Town of Boonton master plan re-examination recommended visual improvements to commercial roadways, specifically including Myrtle Avenue and Main Street. The report called for measures such as architectural details, landscaping and signage; it does not identify this mural as part of a municipal program, according to the Town of Boonton report.
Part Of A Decade-Long Mural Tradition
Boonton’s public-art efforts predate Morello’s commission. The nonprofit Boonton Arts says its mural initiative began in 2015 with a Dog Days of Summer mural at Church and Main, according to the organization. That year, a 50-by-30-foot American flag mural was also painted on Boonton Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 242 and dedicated on Veterans Day 2015, the Daily Record reported at the time.
The group behind those early projects, Rich and Tina Jach, told the paper they founded Boonton Arts almost by necessity. “We had no place to put it so we formed Boonton Arts,” they said, describing how donations for the mural work needed a home, per the Daily Record's 2016 report on the couple's efforts to use art to draw people downtown.
Boonton Arts later said it hoped to keep the momentum going, stating its goal was to return in 2024 with a more streamlined Dog Days of Summer project, according to the organization's website. Morello's new corner mural adds another chapter to that decade-long push to make downtown Boonton's walls as welcoming as its storefronts.
