Crossroads - Mariah Fee and Francesca Samsel
In 1995, Peekskill mural painters Mariah Fee and Francesca Samsel, along with local artists Anne-Marie Thiney, Susan Basile, and John Fekete, created a 1,600-square-foot mural a stones throw from the Paramount Theater. The mural depicts 200 years of Peekskill's history, from mid-19th-century parades to present-day farmers' markets. The figures evolve through time as they march, connecting the past to the present. The city supported the project financially, and the artwork was completed over the summer using a grid system to transfer the design onto the wall.
Mariah Fee is an acclaimed artist whose work is found in collections across the U.S., South Africa, and Hong Kong. With an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, her large-scale murals bring communities and sponsors together. She currently teaches at Parsons School of Design. Francesca Samsel has gained recognition for her work in scientific visualization, contributing to climate change research for the U.S. Department of Energy. Her team won an award for their groundbreaking work in ocean current modeling and data analytics at the 2015 Supercomputing Conference.
