Hippo - News and Culture Weekly

Peter Noonan, whose illustrations and cartoons are frequently seen in the Hippo and Manchester Daily Express, is creating a 35-foot-long, 10-foot-tall mural as a tribute to the restaurant’s involvement in presidential primary campaigns. The inside walls of the Merrimack, which is at 786 Elm St. in Manchester, are filled with photos of primary candidates — some have used space above the eatery as campaign office space. Now an outside wall of the restaurant will highlight the connection.

“There’s a lot of history in that place,” Noonan said. Likenesses of Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, Steve Forbes, Joe Lieberman and Bob Dole will be included in the mural. No current candidates are included, to maintain neutrality.

“If Bill Clinton turns out looking like Hillary, I’m in deep trouble,” Noonan said.

The work was commissioned on behalf of the Merrimack Restaurant owned by sisters Koni Farr and Maria Saitas at 786 Elm St.

“We have been here for 25 years and the New Hampshire primary has always been the most exciting time. We want to see New Hampshire continue to remain first in the nation to vote and we want to show our support in any way we can,” Saitas said.

Painting starts Saturday, May 26, to be finished May 27, with the help of B.F.A. students Alexandra Ross-Raymond and Sonja Krygeris from the University of New Hampshire and Stephen Southerland from Rivier College. Although this is Noonan’s first mural, recent graduate Ross-Raymond has a semester of experience working on murals all over Germany.

Noonan wanted his caricatures to look dignified rather than “too cartoonish.”

“The point was to make the whole thing really cool and hip and modern,” Noonan said. He created the design from some of the photos in the restaurant. Choosing the subjects was tough. Neither the Bush presidents nor Ronald Regan visited the Merrimack while campaigning. John McCain did, but he could not be included because he is running.

The outdoor painting on Merrimack Street will serve as a backdrop for a rally kicking off the launch of “Grassroots and Granite,” a new political blog, on Sunday, June 3, at 1 p.m. The nonpartisan blog, will be focused on the relationship between the state of New Hampshire and U.S. presidential politics. At 7 p.m. that evening, Saint Anselm College in Manchester hosts a Democratic presidential primary debate sponsored by CNN, WMUR-TV and the Union Leader with U.S. senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd and Joseph Biden, former senators John Edwards and Mike Gravel, Gov. Bill Richardson, and Congressman Dennis Kucinich. A Republican debate follows June 5 at the school with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. senators John McCain and Sam Brownback, Governor Mike Huckabee, former governors Mitt Romney and Jim Gilmore, and Congressmen Tom Tancredo, Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter. The Grassroots and Granite rally will feature speeches from the mayor, as well as voters and contributors to the blog. Noonan said the hope is that the outdoor space will attract future political rallies. President Bill Clinton held a campaign rally there in 1992, he said.

The blog will cover the upcoming primary by concentrating on, and giving a public voice to, the voters of New Hampshire. Editorial staff includes Jessie Papatolicas and journalism students from Manchester Central High School and area colleges.

The Grassroots and Granite team helped Noonan develop the mural design, which will be painted in acrylic and varnished. Noonan is washing and priming the wall this week. His work has also been in New Hampshire Magazine, Hanover Magazine and Retail Services Magazine.