Thinking Big

While some visitors to Boston's State House may overlook the 54th regiment statue across Beacon Street, no one will be able to miss the building-size mural of the image that covers the entire State House. Besides paying tribute to one of the most significant moments in New England history, the dramatic mural honoring Massachusetts's first African-American Civil War regiment serves to protect the government building during ongoing restoration. As part of this week's ceremonial "Hope and Glory" mural, members of the 54th Volunteers honored the historic regiment with a musket salute on the State House steps, only a few feet from the original statue. The billboard-size canvas mural took almost a full day to hang in five separate parts.Created by AK MediaPrint and sponsored by Avaya, the mural was designed to cover the State House facade while it undergoes three months of construction. "AK Media/MA was proud to offer the state its expertise and ability to produce and install top-quality, large-format advertising," states Drew Hoffman, AK Media's general manager. The company is a provider of outdoor advertising in the greater Boston region, offering more than 2,500 outdoor media displays with a reach as far as Worcester and Fall River. The company also operates in New Jersey and New York, but jumped at the chance of paying homage to local African-American military heroes.According to Hoffman, the 54th regiment was made up of free African-Americans, including several sons of Frederick Douglas. The regiment won undying glory by leading an assault on Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina, in which nearly half of the unit was killed, wounded or captured. "The wallscape is a fitting tribute to the sacrifices," says Secretary of Administration and Finance Stephen Crosby. "We are proud to recognize bravery and courage of these individuals and their historic significance."Printed traditionally at 150 dpi resolution, substrates available for the project ranged from gloss vinyl, frontlit and backlit vinyl, PSV, canvas, carpet and poster panel. Hoffman reports that proofs were shipped within two working days after receiving the art from Avaya and the State House; the shipment of the final product took place within seven working days. The benefit, says Hoffman, of doing fast large-scale work is based on market competition. Competing with TV, film, radio and the Internet has created new justification for print media to get bigger, better and faster.John Rooney, Avaya vice president of sales, explains, "Avaya chose the 'Hope and Glory' mural as a tribute to honor the courage and the diversity and commitment that built America." Speaking as a supplier of communications systems for businesses, government agencies and other organizations, Rooney says that communicating history was a priority for both companies. Formerly the Enterprise Networks Group of Lucent Technologies, Avaya has nearly one million business customers in more than 90 countries, including more than three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies."The design of the mural, chosen by Avaya from the State House library, prompted many emotional and excited comments from our team as the mural came off the printers," reveals Claire Lawson, general sales manager for AK MediaPrint. "Our ability to bring this project from design to printing, finishing and final installation has made the project virtually seamless for all partners involved. And we are pleased to be a part of a public and private partnership."Hoffman admits that high-tech printing equipment—though crucial to such projects—doesn't necessarily make an artist. "In fact, all the gee-whiz printing gadgets in the world are useless if the person running it doesn't have an artist's eye," he adds. "That's why every person in our prepress department comes from an art background. They're artists first, print professionals second. Consequently, they look at things differently than most."Ensuring the colors on vinyl were exactly what everyone expected—from the State House to the honorees' decendants—was not only a matter of good production sense, but also a lesson in American history.-Natalie Hope McDonald

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Thinking Big

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