The Poets: A mural for Margaret and Lucretia Davidson

PLATTSBURGH | A three-story mural of poet sisters Lucretia Maria Davidson and Margaret Miller Davidson now peers over rooftops in downtown Plattsburgh. Both women are celebrated in literature as gifted poets who died young in the early 1800s. They weren't close in age. Lucretia was a month shy of 15 when her younger sister Margaret was born. They were together in life for only two years and five months. Lucretia was brought home, seriously ill, from boarding school, and died not long afterward at the family's home in Plattsburgh 200 years ago. Nearly 17, Lucretia died on Aug. 27, 1825. Margaret died 13 years later, on Nov. 25, 1838, of tuberculosis. She was 15. Poetry provided the twist of fate that forever connects them. Both started writing verse as very young girls, about age four and five. They grew up preserving the world around them in rhyme, celebrating nature's mystery and life's passages. They both loved the Saranac River and Lake Champlain, and each wrote about the other. Through two centuries, their voices still linger in verse. THE POETS MURAL In the first 10 days in June, muralist Brendon Palmer-Angell painted The Poets mural, a project coordinated by Outside Art. The sepia-toned duo rises over the east bank of the Saranac River on Bridge Street. On the right, Lucretia faces forward, her gaze seems to follow passersby. On the left, Margaret appears deep in thought, her focus turned further west. Plattsburgh-born and raised, Palmer-Angell returned to the city this year, having previously created murals celebrating Plattsburgh-born actress Jean Arthur and "Reach for the Stars," a portrait of astronaut and U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Anderson, who served for a time at the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. All three murals were coordinated for location and design through Outside Art, a coalition of artists and public art advocates led by co-directors Amy Guglielmo and Julia Devine. "I love image making and how the stories connect to a community," Palmer-Angell said. "Telling these stories is really important. It lets people know more about who lived here, how they embraced their passion. By making public art, everyone can see how they used their passion to encourage creativity." LARGE-SCALE PORTRAITS At 37-feet-by-33-feet, The Poets mural was painted with spray paint in soft tones of beige and brown on a brick wall. Palmer-Angell used portraits of the sisters as reference and scaled them to fit the building. Their billowing dresses and ruffled collars reflect fashion of the early 1800s. Mural progress drew daily interest from local residents traveling to and from the city, on foot or bikes or in vehicles. People stopped to watch the mural come to life and complimented the work. Asked how he translated small photos to city-size paintings, Palmer-Angell likened it to reading a digital map, choosing direction and distance, then scrolling closer for exact turns. "You have to step back, it's like reading a map," he said. Pausing to wait out a rainstorm one day, he left hints of his process in scribbles and letters on an unfinished part of the mural. Notations looked like fragments of words falling from the poets' hands. They seemed like part of the painting, but they were instructions. "That's what the 'doodle grid' is for, all the letters and scribbles -- it's a method of creating a random reference map to let you draw something out at scale more effectively," he explained. Palmer-Angell studied mural technique in apprenticeship with James Bullough, an American-born artist based in Germany, well known for large works of public art in the U.S. and worldwide. Now living in New Orleans, Palmer-Angell recently completed a 50-by-55-foot heron in spray paint, titled "River Guardian," located at 431 Elysian Fields Ave. in New Orleans. The artist said he truly enjoys the time he spends home in Plattsburgh. A graduate of Plattsburgh High School, his parents were both educators and his grandfather, Dr. George W. Angell, was the sixth president of Plattsburgh State University. "I love the shared history here, seeing everyone and Amy, and coming back to do these," he said. "We're always thrilled to have Brendon back," Guglielmo said, as he climbed back into the lift. "It is cool that her eyes follow you when you walk down the street," she noted of Lucretia's gaze. PUBLIC ART WITH PURPOSE Outside Art has completed some 21 works throughout the city. "Public art has multiple purposes. They beautify place and create a sense of pride. It is about education, teaching people about the past helps connect a community," Guglielmo said. The Davidson girls wrote poetry from a really young age, but not many people today know who they were. Both sisters earned praise posthumously from prominent American writers, including Washington Irving and Edgar Alan Poe. PUBLIC PROSE A stanza from Lucretia's poem 'Twilight' is written at in the lower corner of the mural. "This mural was ambitious in that it is tied into the writing," Guglielmo said. Outside Art connected The Poets mural to poetry published in public throughout the city. The current "Poem Village" installation was created in partnership with the Adirondack Center for Writing. Poems written by North Country students and residents are on display in over two dozen shops, cafes and public parks throughout the city. "We like when our work transcends the wall," Guglielmo said. "Art is a living and breathing thing, especially public art. It's always open and free." ......................................... HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Viewing public art is free, but costs to commission artists and purchase supplies comes through local donations, gifts and grant awards. The New York State Council on the Arts provided funding for The Poets mural through the Clinton County Historical Association. Guglielmo and Palmer-Angell were joined on the final day of work, Wednesday, June 11, by Historical Association President Geri Favreau, who presented them with the check. CCHA collaborates with Outside Art on projects that portray area history, Favreau said, and the poet sisters offer a rich look of Plattsburgh's story in their verses. This place was bustling in the early 1800s. Lucretia was moved to Peru with her family during the Battle of Plattsburgh. Their father Oliver Davidson was one of the first four physicians in Plattsburgh. The house they lived in was built beside the Henry Delord cottage on Cumberland Avenue. Like the Delord's first house, the Davidson home was smaller then. The existing brick walls and a second story were additions made years after. CCHA will be placing a historic marker at the Davidson home on Cumberland Avenue this summer. "The Davidson sisters are well-deserving of the attention this will bring to their legacy," Favreau said of The Poets mural. "There is a street named for Lucrecia Davidson on the Old Base Museum Campus," she added. "We wonder how many people take that street and wonder who it was named for. Now they will know more about who she was." The Poets mural project was funded through the New York State Council on the Arts' Statewide Community Regrants Program, administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. Additional resources came from the state through Assemblyman Billy Jones, and many gifts from community. The Poets mural is at 63 Bridge St. in the City of Plattsburgh. To see more of Palmer-Angell's work: brendonart.com Outside Art has produced over 20 murals in the past nine years in downtown Plattsburgh and 1 in Keeseville, and one in the Village of Champlain. They have blazed a trail for public art acceptance in Plattsburgh. In 2018, they created the Plattsburgh Mural Map, an art walk for locals and tourists that features local artists, culture, and history. The latest version of the mural map is available at the Clinton County Historical Association and Museum. To learn more about Outside Art projects: facebook.com/outsideartplattsburgh To find out more about the Clinton County Historical Association: clintoncountyhistorical.org Note: Correction made to correct order of Palmer-Angell's last name. ................................. SISTER POEMS Through their young lives, the Davidson sisters wrote poetry dedicated to each other. Margaret would only have slight memories of Lucretia, but imagined her to be a kindred spirit. One of Lucretia's poems to Margaret was somewhat prescient. TO MY SISTER. By Lucretia Davidson When evening spreads her shades around, And darkness fills the arch of heaven; When not a murmur, not a sound To Fancy's sportive ear is given; When the broad orb of heaven is bright, And looks around with golden eye; When Nature, softened by her light, Seems calmly, solemnly to lie; Then, when our thoughts are raised above This world, and all this world can give, O sister, sing the song I love, And tears of gratitude receive. The song which thrills my bosom's core, And, hovering, trembles, half afraid; O sister, sing the song once more Which ne'er for mortal ear was made. 'Twere almost sacrilege to sing Those notes amid the glare of day; Notes borne by angels' purest wing, And wafted by their breath away. When sleeping in my grass-grown bed, Shouldst thou still linger here above, Wilt thou not kneel beside my head, And, sister, sing the song I love? Opening lines of a poem by Margaret to her sister Lucretia: TO MY SISTER LUCRETIA. By Margaret M. Davidson MY sister! With that thrilling word What thoughts unnumber'd wildly spring! What echoes in my heart are stirr'd, While thus I touch the trembling string! I cannot weep that thou art fled,— For ever blends my soul with thine; Each thought, by purer impulse led, Is soaring on to realms divine. Thou wert unfit to dwell with clay, For sin too pure, for earth too bright! And death, who call'd thee hence away, Placed on his brow a gem of light!

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