June Bisantz
GROW
a project for the Mansfield Artwalk
Mansfield, CT 2025
About the project
My work is grounded in a desire to integrate - not merely place - art in public space. Based on this belief, my past work includes billboards, re-contextualized street signs,altered traffic control devices, advertising panels and video projections. I frequently use text in my work to speak simply and directly to the widest possible audience.
Grow is a series of 15 double-sided, outdoor signs containing silhouettes of local flora and fauna combined with aspirational words to celebrate Mansfield, CT’s burgeoning growth and beautiful natural setting. The signs reference Mansfield’s community vision, and the importance of its natural environment guiding visitors to and from the Mansfield Public Library to the mouth of the Nipmuck Trail at Southeast
Park, Warrenville Road. I call this installation Grow because I believe Mansfield, CT embodies the ideal of healthy growth - protecting and celebrating its natural landscape while serving
the community with expanding cultural and commercial activities.
Each sign front contains a plant or animal silhouette, a descriptive word and a phrase about the common-knowledge cultural symbolism of the wildlife. The back is labeled with the scientific as well as common name, and a QR code linked to information about the plants and animals pictured.
All images are silhouettes of local wildlife. Some recommended by Mansfield's Natural Resources Committee (Bald Eagle, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Christmas Fern, White Tailed Deer, Northern Cardinal, Halictid Bee, Eastern Blue Bird, Wild Canada Goose, Dandelion, Queen Anne's Lace); and some referencing plants found in Erin Smith's sculpture garden at the Mansfield Public Library (Jack in the Pulpit, Goldenrod, Halactid Bee).
The words used in this project serve more than one purpose. Some directly reference the Downtown Mansfield Partnership's Mission such as Grow, Lead, Balance, Thrive, Succeed. Others serve a creative way-finding function, leading visitors from the trail head to the trail crossing - Emerge, Lead Advance, Forward, Motivate, Excel, Persist, Persevere, Accomplish, Connect. And still others reference the Mansfield Public Library and its sculpture garden - Grow, Imagine.
About the artist
June Bisantz received her Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting from Claremont Graduate University in California. She has lived and worked in Boston, Los Angeles and New York City, and her work has been shown in galleries and museums nationally and internationally.
Since 1999, she has received grants and commissions to support her public projects from organizations including the Connecticut Office of the Arts; the Connecticut State University System; the Berkshire Artist Trust Fund; the Te Women’s Foundation; the Pittsfield, MA Cultural Council; Hartford Health Care, CT, the Denver, Colorado and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Percent for Art programs; and the Charlotte Area Transit System in Charlotte, NC.
Her public projects have been installed in New York City, Oregon, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, California, Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois. She has been a finalist in public art competitions including New York City’s MTA Centennial Car Card competition, Charlotte, NC’s Light Rail Expansion Project, Philadelphia PA’s Marion Anderson Recreational Center Project and Denver CO’s Brighton Blvd. Redevelopment Project. Her most recent project is a series of creative way finding signage for Mansfield, CT's Artwalk, installed in Spring 2025.
Ms. Bisantz is a faculty member in the Art Department at Eastern Connecticut State University, where she founded Eastern’s Digital Art & Design Program. During her tenure at Eastern, Ms. Bisantz received multiple grants and awards for both her own and her students’ work, and in 2015, was granted the title of Emeritus Professor of Art.
Bisantz is also an award-winning vocalist who has co-written and produced several albums of vocal jazz, all of which have all received national and international recognition. She has performed throughout the United States and Asia, and continues to record, write and perform. She is the recipient of three Global Music Awards, a World Songwriting Award and a Clouzine International Music Award.
More information about the artist: junebisantz.com