In 2019, Bernier Insurance commissioned Bianca Mireles to paint a mural on the former Charter Trust building. The project is supported entirely by Bernier Insurance, a financial sponsor of the RMFA.
“We have wanted to support a project like this for years… I think the mural will fit in nicely with all the work the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts, and the entire arts community, has already done to enhance our everyday lives,” said Troy Dillow, Bernier Insurance. “We hope this project inspires our neighbors to add even more wonderful art like this. We believe it’s the key to unlocking the beauty of our downtown.”
Bianca Mireles is an artist living and working in the seacoast area. Originally from Big Spring, Texas, Mireles has exhibited in a variety of venues in Los Angeles CA, Birmingham AL, Odessa TX, and Big Spring, TX. She studied English and Studio Art at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa.
“I taught public school, 5th-grade reading, and art in Big Spring, Texas. Through community funding, my student Honors Art Club and I helped completely several murals in our downtown district,” said Mireles. “Our small downtown was beat up and a bit infamous for being on a downward track. My students got to experience actively partaking in creating change and beauty in a worn space, and that meant a lot to me. As an educator, I had a passion for taking art beyond the classroom and into the community. Although I no longer teach, I’m still an aspiring muralist. Public art is a movement. It is a social tool that can spread ideas, and perpetuate and influence a collective positive identity. The muralist I am inspired by most is Diego Rivera. As a freelance artist, I have a curiosity to explore identity through cultural, historical, scientific, and transcendent perspectives.”
