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‘The Big Band’ mural pays tribute to Scranton’s rich musical past
A new mural in Downtown Scranton will remind passersby of the city’s rich musical past, just in time for the 19th annual Scranton Jazz Festival, August 2 to 4, in the business district. The project is the fifth piece of public art produced through Scranton Tomorrow’s Mural Arts Program. The mural is sponsored in part by Lackawanna County and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley.
Titled “The Big Band,” local artist Eric Bussart is bringing the mural to life, one brush stroke at a time. Located at 217 Wyoming Avenue, the finished piece will be 130 feet wide by 30 feet tall. The design features famous Jazz icons with ties to our region, including the Scranton Sirens orchestra, the Dorsey Brothers, two standout members of the group, and Duke Ellington, their mentor and friend.
Celebrating local ties to some of the world’s most renowned musicians.
To help Bussart prepare for the project, Rose Randazzo-Pizzuto, chairperson, Mural Arts Program, Marko Marcinko, local musician and artistic director of the Scranton Jazz Festival, and members of Scranton Tomorrow offered historical perspective. “The Scranton Sirens were a nationally-known band at a time before we even had television,” said Randazzo-Pizzuto. “Their band leader, Billy Lustig, was from Scranton. He was credited with discovering Frank Sinatra and the Dorsey Brothers, who were only 14 and 15 years old when this band started. The Dorsey Brothers lived in Pottsville and they came here to perform. We have a major connection to what happened historically with big bands across the country in the 1920s and 30s.”
The design also includes a flapper, inspired by a vintage poster advertising the Scranton Sirens in concert at the historic Hotel Casey. The poster featured an illustration of a flapper in a red dress and headpiece, a popular fashion accessory at the time. Bussart created a realistic version of the illustrated flapper in the same attire for the mural. “She adds a feminine touch to the other side of the mural, giving it a nice pop of pink. All of this is played against large, abstract, undulating flower patterns.”
Bussart loves to incorporate symbolism into his work, and his choice of the lotus flower in this design is significant. He explained that much in the way this lovely flower blooms in harsh conditions, the artistry of the jazz movement flourished in the midst of our region’s gritty industrial past.
This mural is designed to pay tribute to our past as we progress into the future, and the project is especially poignant to Randazzo-Pizzuto. In addition to her appreciation for public art, she has a family connection to the region’s musical past. Her father-in-law, Sam Pizzuto, was the band leader for a 17-piece big band, the Sam Peter’s Band, for nearly 40 years in the Pottstown area. Their family donated his book of arrangements to the Scranton Jazz Festival, and his music will be played live during this year’s event.
“Scranton is still very much a destination for live music and Jazz. For the last 19 years, we’ve had an annual Jazz festival, and the Scranton Jazz Festival Big Band plays all over the state. We’ve continued this tradition of Big Band music from the days of the Scranton Sirens to today. I hope when people see this mural, they realize we are an important city in the history of Jazz and Big Band music, and that we celebrate all forms of art, from live music to the visual arts and now public art.”
Save the Dates
On Saturday, August 3, at 4 p.m., you’ll have a chance to see Bussart paint as members of the PA Jazz Institute/Scranton Jazz Festival Student Ensemble perform at the Christopher A. Doherty Park on the corner of Linden Street and Wyoming Avenue. The performance is presented by Scranton Tomorrow.
A formal mural dedication ceremony will be held during First Friday on October 4.
About the Artist
Eric Bussart earned a BFA in Illustration from Marywood University, Scranton. He’s been painting murals professionally since 2016, when he combined the skills he gained from his college side job as a house painter with his love of illustration and portraiture. Since he painted his first mural along the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail eight years ago – the light bulb along the Olive Street path – he has produced more than 120 murals in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the tri-state area. To view more of his work, visit ericbussart.com.
