Courage and color — according to Xaivier Ringer, co-founder of the Rome Mural CoLab, that is what it takes to realize a new vision for a community. Ringer and fellow co-founder Ellie Borromeo started the collaborative public art project in 2020, and since then they have created two murals… and a much more colorful future for Rome.
“It’s time for us to be grandiose in our vision for Rome,” Ringer says. As Rome natives, both Ringer and Borromeo have a personal interest in improving their home community, and combining their artistic skills and experience has them on the path to doing just that. The duo met last year and hit it off immediately, bonding over a love of art and a desire to improve the place they’ve called home for many years.
“We both have an interest in how we can combine our skills and our passions to continually help better this community,” Borromeo says. “We both have roots here, so we want to see things happen. You can lead in the things you want to see, and if you feel that inclination, you should just step up and do something about it.”
For these two local artists, the time to step up and do something came during a period of great uncertainty. “During the pandemic, I think it allowed things to gain perspective, slow down,” Ringer says. “We really were interested in creating something during that time that allowed people to feel a sense of community and camaraderie in a way that didn’t obligate them to be close to each other, so we thought this would be the perfect time for a mural or a series of murals that would speak to what we’re going through but would also be a call to action.”