Bethel’s sidewalks have seen better days. Over time, cracks and fractures have made the sidewalks difficult to navigate with a stroller, wheelchair or walker. And fixing them is expensive — too expensive, in fact, for the town to take on. But a new project spearheaded by a local artist aims to fix up the streets while also adding colorful flair.
Dayna Sabatino, owner of Day Breaks Glass Studio in downtown Bethel, is working with community members to create small mosaics to fill gaps in the sidewalk. Sabatino came up with the idea after seeing another artist pursue a similar project with potholes in Chicago. The low-cost solution spruces up the street, increases accessibility and allows community members to see their art en plein air, all the time.
“I love the combination of the functionality of the mosaics mixed with the surprise of art being in the community,” said Sabatino, who has been teaching stained glass and mosaics for more than 20 years.
Sabatino has enlisted the help of local middle schoolers, who prepared mosaics over the winter as part of an afterschool program. Older community members got involved through a class offered by Bethel University — the town’s pop-up, neighbor-to-neighbor class series — over the winter.
The amateur artists use tiles donated to Sabatino’s studio, which are cut into a few generic shapes that can fit a wide variety of cracks. Flecks of gems and jewels are added to the mix for pizzazz. Participants can pick and choose which elements to include in their design, making each mosaic unique.
While Sabatino installed one test mosaic last summer — and it survived the winter “fantastically,” according to the artist — most will go in over the next few months.
“I’m excited for when people will walk down the road and will be like, ‘That’s mine!'” Sabatino said.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Sidewalk Art”
This article appears in May 24-30, 2023.
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