Ellwood Thompson’s Blog

This image is disturbing. The woman with the white shirt with rolled up sleeves, up stretched muscular arm and gazing upward, triangle patch on her shirt, and strap across chest is so reminiscest of nazi images of the youth, especially the BDM (league of german girls). Certain girls and young women were chosen for “county service” which included farm work. This is so disturbing to me that I have second thoughts about supporting this store.

This was posted on Oct 23rd, 2009 at 10:19pm by Susan, Richmond.

Hi Susan,

I am very sorry that you find our mural disturbing. As you know art elicits many different responses from its viewers. We did use art from the 30’s and 40’s as an inspiration, but it was from the mural’s Roosevelt commissioned as part of the Works Progress Administration. The rolled up sleeve is styled after the famous feminist icon, Rosie the Riveter. The triangle patch on her shirt with the initials JLP was an addition Ed Trask, the artist, made to the mural as a memorial to Jessica Lynn Pascual, an employee we tragically lost last June while the mural was in progress.

You can read more about our mural here:

The Artist, Ed Trask, is somewhat of a Richmond celebrity, known for numerous murals around town including the art at Kuba Kuba, Banditos, Chop Suey, Art Space, Richmond Kickers and Legend Brewery.

We commissioned Ed to paint a mural that depicts Ellwood Thompson’s commitment to the Farm to table philosophy. The mural is an homage to the art of 30’s and 40’s that present Roosevelt commissioned as part of the WPA, works progress administration. During those harsh economic times 5,000 artists were employed and all though were not paid much, their art provided hope and inspiration to numerous artists and their influence is still seen today in surrealism, abstract expression, pop art, minimalism and graffiti art.

The woman picking the peaches is a nod to the Rosie the Riveter icon that served to represent the women that took over all aspects of the work force while the majority of the men were away at war. She currently stands as a symbol of the success that women have today in their choice of career fields, including farming.

The city is the background shows the importance of close proximity to local foods for urban residents. Supporting sustainable farming practices also helps to create sustainable cities.

The Hula Hoop in the corner is a memorial to our co-worker, Jessica Pascual, who we lost June 2009; she was an extremely talented hula hooper, often seen outside of Ellwood Thompson’s hula hoping on her break. “Little Pink Rose” was a family nickname for Jessica; which is inscribed above the Hula Hoop. The farmer also wears a badge with Jessica’s initials as another memorial to Jessica .

Our mural is a celebration of the farm to table movement in Richmond and the people that make it possible.

I hope this offers you a new perspective on our mural, I’d be more than happy to show you many of the personal images in the mural next time you are at the store or answer any questions you may have, but I assure you in no way did we attend for our mural to pay homage to Nazi era propaganda.

We hope you continue to support Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market, when you shop with us not only do you support an independent local grocery store, you also support local farmers and producers which helps to keep your money in our community.

This was posted on Oct 26th, 2009 at 10:07am by Cyndi.