"The American Mural Project aims to create the world’s largest indoor art education collaboration. It's a celebration of America's ingenuity and productivity and a tribute to its workers," the Connecticut Public reports.

"Griesedieck started the project 15 years ago, working with students in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. She's since worked with more than 10,000 kids in communities across the U.S. to create pieces of the mural. Kids from West Virginia created blown glass. 

"They’re known for blown glass. So we go into Blenko Glass and everybody blows glass. And we’ve got 26 feet of blown glass that’s part of the Mural Project representing West Virginia," said Griesedieck."

"In 1999, when her kids were young, artist Ellen Griesedieck realized her children where “pretty clueless” about how things were made, where there food and products came from, and whose hands constructed the world around them," the Rural Intelligence reports.

"To honor the nobility of all work and workers, she began the American Mural Project (AMP), which is now the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world —a three-dimensional mural 120-feet long and five stories high. Today, more than 15,000 children and adults have helped create pieces for the mural, which is being assembled in one of two former mill buildings on the AMP campus on Whiting Street in Winsted, Connecticut.

"Griesedieck says one of the most rewarding aspects of creating this giant, crazy mural is that it requires the help of skilled laborers to install. As an art piece honoring work, it necessitates by its immensity the inclusion of the very people it depicts. At AMP the art of work is enshrined as a work of art."

"The mural is a tribute to American workers and highlights what has defined the country over the last century. It serves as the center for AMP’s education programs, and seeks to inspire, to educate, to invite collaboration, and to reveal to people of all ages the many contributions they can make to American culture," the official website says.

"Visit AMP in Winsted, Connecticut, Friday and Saturday, 10am–5pm, and Sunday, 12–5pm, year-round. In addition to the mural exhibit, programming is currently offered for schools and teachers, after-school partnerships, summer enrichment sessions, and an apprentice-style internship program."

"The massive three-dimensional mural—measuring 120 feet long and five stories high—reveals a visual narrative of Americans at work and celebrates the various professions that have shaped American culture over the past century. Founded by artist Ellen Griesedieck in 2001, AMP's highly anticipated debut follows 22 years of research and design, mural assembly and installation, and renovation to the historic mill building in downtown Winsted," the official Press Release says.

"Incorporating artistic contributions from thousands of children across the country, the mural features a vivid compilation of three-dimensional sculptural vignettes portraying Americans at work —from heart surgeons to steelworkers, firefighters to farmers, school teachers to fabricators of a 747 aircraft, and more. Constructed with unconventional materials, including honeycomb aluminum panels, blown glass, clay, reclaimed wood, native indigo, and spackle, the mural offers an optical journey and sensory adventure through the past 100 years of work in America.

"Through partnerships with schools, other nonprofits, and professionals in a range of fields—including NASA, Boeing, Habitat for Humanity, and HealthCorps—AMP has engaged more than 15,000 students and adults across the country in creating pieces of the mural. AMP has led projects with children from preschool to high school on artwork addressing health, fitness, conservation, energy alternatives, space exploration, and more. AMP's multi-state art collaborations are ongoing and intend to provide more children the opportunity to discover and explore interests and abilities in themselves, as well as possibilities in the world that they may never have imagined."

"Griesedieck, a Sharon woman who founded the nonprofit in 2001, has put over 20 years of research, development and work into the mural, which spans an enormous 120-foot long stretch of the renovated mill building at 90 Whiting St.," the CT Insider reports.

"The mural features a cross section of America’s workers, including first responders, educators, builders and doctors. And they’re all real people Griesedieck got to know. All of the people featured in Griesedieck’s mural are painted to be larger than life, and that’s very much intentional, the artist said.

"The mural can be viewed from three unique vantage points, including a neck-craning view from the ground floor, a mid-level balcony view and a third floor spot that gives viewers a closer look at the very top of the mural."

"The once-lively New England town of Winsted, Connecticut, formerly a booming manufacturing mill town, is now filled with vacant factories and empty streets. Because of its need for rejuvenation and redevelopment, the American Mural Project, a Connecticut-based nonprofit, chose to install the American Mural Project on the former brownfield site," the United States Environmental Protection Agency says.

"The 100 Whiting Streetprope rty is planned to house the large mural along with a learning complex dedicated to America’s heritage as a working nation. They hope this property will become a tourist destination, attracting people to Winsted and improving the local economy.

"Across the 50 states, the American Mural artist, Ellen Griesedieck has worked with educators, scientists, workers and children from all walks of life to collect and create pieces of the mural. The different materials will be used in the mural to d to depict scenes representing American culture."