On Nov. 8, the country will have voted in a new president, and for Maureen and Joe Barillaro, that’s when the work will begin.
The Somerville couple has launched a Kickstarter to fund an art installation on their property in Orange along the Moss Brook near Erving State Park. It’s not just any project, but a wall they plan to build after Election Day in response to Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the Mexican border to curb undocumented immigration.
The couple started the project after watching videos that spoof Trump’s comments.
They are both creative people; she is a video editor and Joe is an artist, so they wanted to create a lighthearted project that represents a rejection of Trump’s rhetoric.
They want their wall to unite, instead of divide, according to couple.
They plan to call the wall “Sea to shining sea” and are calling for donations to help fund the project. As of Sunday night, the couple has raised $585 of their $1,500 goal. The Kickstarter campaign will end on Election Day. Then the couple will make plans for the wall based on how much was donated.
Bonnie Dwyer, one of the Barillaro’s friends and one of the project’s donors, applauds them for taking on this idea.
“It is an opportunity to create community, jobs and beauty at a time when our nation seems hopelessly divided,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said the couple is taking something divisive and turning it into something positive. She is one of 14 backers on the project so far.
They continue to post updates on the Kickstarter page, and hope the project is something people can follow in addition to or in lieu of politics in the last few weeks before the election.
“There’s a lot of anxiety going around,” she said, of the current political climate.
The couple has posted updates to what the project will look like and what people’s donations are going toward.
The post says the wall “will represent the values that unite all Americans: charity, creativity and hard work.”
The Barillaros plan to build a New England stone wall using stone found on the property. The couple also plans to incorporate a rock collection they’ve amassed over the years. If additional stones are needed after that, then they may be purchased.
But the donations will go first toward hiring stone masons to help plan and build the project, because the couple doesn’t have experience in building a wall.
The couple said they want to combat the way the election has divided the country into “Us vs. them.”
“This is statement saying that isn’t the real America,” Maureen said. “Donald Trump is saying make America great again, and we’re saying it already is great.”
The two plan to build the wall in the spring, once they’ve assessed the amount of donations and created a design.
Maureen hopes the project will be seen as a way to be involved in something positive during a time of so much negative news.
“It’s fun to kind of think of doing something creative and leaving a mark,” she said.
Miranda Davis covers Gill, Montague and Erving.
Reach her at 413-772-0261, ext. 280 or mdavis@recorder.com