Beginning May 17, a massive blank wall on the south side of the Ausable Theater will be transformed with a mural painted by “Miss Teal,” Oregon-based muralist Erika Rosendale (@erika.rosendale). The community is welcome to witness the making of the “Water Wonder” mural throughout the process. The Ausable Theater is located on Main Street in Au Sable Forks at 12432 Rte 9N.

To celebrate the mural’s installation, an Artist Talk with Miss Teal will be held Monday, June 1, at 6 p.m. at the Community Building in Jay at 11 School Lane, Au Sable Forks. The talk is free and open to the public.

The official mural dedication and community mural celebration will take place on at the mural site at the Ausable Theater on Friday, June 5, from 6 to 8 pm. The celebration will include live music, food trucks, and kid-friendly activities. For more information about the event please visit: www.ausabletheater.org

The public art project is a partnership between the community and the Essex County Land Bank’s ARTSCAPES program, an offshoot of the Land Bank and the North Country Rural Development Coalition’s (NRDC) successful “Walls Between Waters” festival in 2025. Walls Between Waters included the creation of six murals and a full day of celebration featuring art, music, and a sense of community revitalization in Ticonderoga.

After the success in Ticonderoga, the Land Bank expanded its public art project to other Essex County communities, with the Town of Jay (which includes the hamlets of Upper Jay, Jay, and Au Sable Forks) becoming the first to proceed. Working with public art consultant Alex Hall of A H Public Space Consulting, a committee of local volunteers developed a survey for the community to share thoughts on public arts in the Town of Jay, with an overwhelmingly positive response for public art projects in general and for a mural specifically.

Norman Jabaut and Jason Andrew, owners of the Ausable Theater (formerly the Hollywood Theatre) applied for this opportunity and offered their property as the mural site.

“We’re thrilled to welcome muralist Erika Rosendale aka Miss Teal to Au Sable Forks for this landmark public art project at the Ausable Theater. Bringing this sweeping, colorful mural to our historic Main Street with the involvement and input from the community is an exciting moment not only for our theater but for our entire region. In small rural towns like ours, every effort to create beauty, inspire connection, and invest in shared spaces matters. We believe revitalization happens one project, one building, and one act of creativity at a time. It takes all of us doing what we can to enhance and celebrate the place we call home, and we’re honored that this mural will help contribute to the continued energy, pride, and renewal of Au Sable Forks.”

During the project, the community can watch Miss Teal work from her scaffolding platform to create this soon-to-be-dedicated mural with the theme inspired by the input from the community.

The mural project also includes the opportunity for two selected artist apprentices to work with and learn from Miss Teal. Kate LaPoint of Altona and Constance Raul of Plattsburgh were selected to work alongside Miss Teal to mix colors, share painting duties, and help around the site.

About the Muralist:
Erika ‘Miss Teal’ Rosendale is a site-specific artist hailing from the Pacific Coast of North America, raised in Santa Cruz, CA and now based in Portland, OR. Her background in Fine Art from Boston University and her childhood love for comic books has spawned a superhero complex driving to save the world with compassion and creativity.

Her work combines these into a narrative of activism, depicting native wildlife and dynamic figurative elements with a focus on anatomy and a flair for surrealism, creating public artwork to spread awareness, environmental stewardship, and social change.

As a traveling artist and participant in multiple international and national mural festivals, Miss Teal has public works all over the West Coast, the East Coast, and Midwest of America, the UK, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Colombia, and Peru. She has won multiple awards for her work, most recently receiving 1st Place in the National Mural Awards for the western region 6. She travels the world to continue uniting the art army, inspiring the creation of a new paradigm. www.erikarosendale.com

About The Ausable Theater:
Located in the budding hamlet of Au Sable Forks, NY, The Ausable Theater re-imagines a 1930s vaudeville theater with a purpose to uplift our community through the presentation of music, dance, theater, and film. Through this, we aim to highlight our creative diversities, broaden our collective experiences, and express artistic, civic, and educational interests of our community. www.ausabletheater.org