Raccoons on the wall: This artist’s rendition is for a mural that will be painted next month on the exterior of Thornes Market in downtown Northampton by Florida artist Ernesto Maranje. submitted photo

Coming at you: Raccoons are the centerpiece for a mural that is planned for the east exterior wall of Thornes Market in downtown Northampton. Florida artist Ernesto Maranje is scheduled to do the work in October. submitted photo

NORTHAMPTON — You may well have seen them in your neighborhood or in a local wooded area, or maybe burrowing around a dumpster behind a supermarket, or some place downtown: raccoons.

These smart, resourceful critters are highly adaptable and can make a home in a wide variety of habitats. Now a couple of larger-than-life ones will be coming to the outside of Thornes Marketplace.

This week, the city’s Arts Council approved plans for painting a massive mural on the east exterior wall of Thornes, which faces the Armory Street parking lot. The design, by Florida artist Ernesto Maranje, features two enormous raccoons as well as three weaver birds, known for building intricately woven nests, and smaller touches of flora and color.

In an image of the proposed design Maranje submitted to the city, the raccoons dominate the painted section of the wall, which is about 50 feet high and 49 feet wide, with 16 windows. It’s an eye-catching look that Jody Doele, marketing manager for Thornes, calls “so peaceful and so delightful.”

The mural, which Maranje is expected to begin painting at the end of the month, represents a joint effort by the city and Thornes that will be financed with $20,000 from the city and about $6,000 from Thornes. The Northampton funding, via an Arts Council grant, has in turn come from two donations for mural art from D.A. Sullivan & Sons Inc., the longstanding Northampton general contractors.

Doele said Thornes has been looking to add a mural to that wall for about the last five years but until now couldn’t find enough funding to do it.

“After all the problems we had with COVID, we really wanted to do something,” she said. “Then I got a call from Brian (Foote, the Arts Council director) earlier this year and he said ‘We have some money now.’ It was such a moment of good news.”

Doele said she and others at Thornes are “big fans” of public art, saying it contributes to the vibrancy of the city and can help revive the business community and the city as a whole, especially in the wake of the pandemic.

Maranje’s proposed mural “is so massive and so colorful, I’m sure it’s going to get people excited,” she said. “I want to see people snapping pictures of it and posting on social media.”

This summer, the Arts Council put out a nationwide call for proposals for the mural and received 87 submissions. Those applications were reviewed by Doele, Foote, and Arts Council board member Mi Belitsky.

In an Arts Council meeting earlier this week, Foote said Maranje was one of four finalists for the project and that his work stood out for its color, style and technique. He also said the Florida artist seemed a good choice for the job because he is “very organized.”

Both he and Doele also said they had specifically not called for a design that would be “Northampton-centric” but rather something more universal. Maranje’s murals, which are primarily built around flora and fauna, biological evolution, and plant and animal relationships, seemed a good fit in that regard.

Maranje, born in 1983, could not be reached for comment. But on his website, he describes how he became interested in art when has was 27 and serving in the U.S. Coast Guard as a diesel mechanic.

According to a press release about the Thornes Market project, Maranje began doing a variety of small paint jobs for the Coast Guard while serving on land in 2012 after suffering an injury. He “fell in love with painting” and went on to study it at the Art Institute of Miami, then took part in mural festivals in Europe and the Middle East, including at orphanages and refugee camps.

That work, at first unpaid except for some stipends, led to commissions from companies and other clients. With his wife, Hillary, Maranje now runs his own company and has completed murals in Florida, Tennessee, Texas and other locations. His work frequently features wildlife — bears, foxes, owls, cougars and other animals — and a variety of flora. He uses spray paint and acrylic in his designs.

It’s not clear if he’s painted raccoons before or if he proposed such a design for the Thornes Marketplace building because the animals are so prevalent in Massachusetts and other parts of the eastern U.S.

“It does seem appropriate for where we live, and it’s definitely kind of funny,” Doele said.

One requirement for the job is that Maranje use what’s known as Smog Armor paint and primer products on 50% of his final work because, the Arts Council says, the material is “proven to reduce air pollution and is non-toxic.” Two coats of paint will be required for the job.

Doele says Thornes Marketplace has rented two articulated boom lifts for October that Maranje will use for the project, which according to specifications he submitted for the job is supposed to take about two weeks, weather permitting.

“When you look at the size of the wall, it’s hard to imagine you could paint it in two weeks,” Doele said. “But I’m really looking forward to see him do it. I can’t wait to see [the mural] come to life.”

Steve Pfarrer can be reached at spfarrer@gazettenet.com.

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