Liberty Is Unfinished Work

As I continued looking for Greenfield’s sidewalk murals, this one brought the past and present together in an unexpected way. A young Revolutionary War drummer stands among signs carrying messages familiar today: “Love Thy Neighbor,” “Support Artists,” “Build Kindness,” and “Liberty & Justice for All.” Above them, an American flag frames the words “Liberty Is Unfinished Work.”

Artist Danielle Lucier created the mural outside City Hall at 14 Court Square for Greenfield’s MA250 Sidewalk Art Tour, commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence. Her design places a figure from the Revolutionary era alongside contemporary expressions of civic participation. The wooded landscape and Poet’s Seat Tower anchor the scene in Greenfield.The drummer offers a connection to the practical work of the Revolution. Military drummers helped communicate orders before electronic communication existed. Particular drumbeats signaled soldiers to assemble, march, take up weapons, or begin and end their daily routines. Their sound helped turn a gathering of individuals into an organized force. Although familiar images often depict drummer boys, Revolutionary War musicians also included older teenagers and adult men

Here, the drum also suggests the act of making oneself heard. Around it, the painted signs address education, immigration, the environment, artistic expression, equality, and care for others. Their variety invites a broader reading of liberty—one that reaches into ordinary community life. These are my impressions of the scene, where the historical figure and present-day messages appear to share the same ground.

The Revolution established an independent nation, but the rights associated with that independence did not initially extend equally to everyone. Enslaved people remained in bondage, and women were largely excluded from formal political power. The Declaration of Independence’s assertion that “all men are created equal” became a principle that later generations would invoke when challenging those exclusions.

Greenfield’s other sidewalk murals tell some of those stories through abolitionists, writers, and people who sought their own freedom. This mural carries that conversation forward. Its lower banner, “Celebrating 250 Years of Raising Our Voices,” asks us to consider participation as something that continues across generations.

I stopped because of the color and the drummer, but the words gave me more to think about. Outside City Hall, where local decisions are made, the mural poses a useful question: what do we do with the freedoms we inherit? Its answer seems to begin with paying attention, caring about our neighbors, and taking part in the life of our community.