The street-side outer wall of Berger Recycling gleams with a colorful mural painted by artist Fisiha Likke. 1­00 feet long and 15 feet tall, the mural depicts the process of recycling­­—scrap metal, electronics, and paper products, among others, returned to a usable, manufacture-ready form. The piece also includes imagery of local landmarks around Pawtucket such as Slater Mill, Pawtucket City Hall, and the Modern Diner, as Likke fuses the identity of the city to that of Berger Recycling, a vibrant and award-winning business that has been a cornerstone of Pawtucket industry since its beginnings in 1912.

The project, which was funded in part by a $1,000 grant from the Pawtucket Arts Funding program, represents an effort by the Berger Recycling Company to beautify the neighborhood it inhabits.

For inspiration, Likke looks to two artists specifically. The first, Diego Rivera, famously worked in fresco to help found the Mexican Mural Movement of 1920. His work reflected Mexican society, using simplified figures and bold colors. The second is M.C. Escher, the renowned draughtsman whose tessellations, architectural explorations, and jumps into infinity were brought to life through a mastery of lithography, woodcut, and mezzotint.

“I tried to encompass the whole energy that flows from recycling,” Likke remarks of the Pawtucket mural. “The idea of positive and negative and the transition from one thing to another.”

Todd Stong

Sources:
Pawtucket Times Archives