Robin’s Wall

Sally Dean Mello
Marshfield, MA
2025
Acrylic paint on mural cloth called “polytab”

This mural symbolically celebrates the native plants and pollinators that live on the grounds of the museum. The project was a collaboration between Sally Dean Mello, Education Coordinator; Maine artist and printmaker, Judith Schneider; local artists Erika Stern and Margaret Rosenbaum; and museum intern, Weston Ambrose, environmental studies major at Stonehill College. During his internship, Weston identified and labeled many of the plants on the museum grounds.

The mural was inspired by the book, The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, written by Robin Wall Kimmerer. The Serviceberry is an essay exploring the concept of a gift economy inspired by the generosity of the serviceberry plant, contrasting with the modern market economy of scarcity and extraction. By observing the serviceberry’s abundance and the reciprocity it models with other species, the book advocates for a shift towards an economy of mutual flourishing and belonging, grounded in gratitude and care, rather than accumulation and self-interest.

This mural was painted with acrylics on mural cloth called polytab, a material traditionally used for interfacing in the garment industry.

Extra thanks to Billy Thomas and Sue Aygarn-Kowalski for preparing the wall, and to Shane Miller of Paper Boy Wallpaper for installing the mural.

Extra-extra thanks to Robin Wall Kimmerer, for writing this book and inspiring awareness.

Kimmerer is also the author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants and Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council awarded us the funds to create this mural.