Muralist brings family’s Green Monster to life

Photo courtesy of M-C Lamarre

MONSTER ART. Muralist M-C Lamarre poses in front of a 37-foot Green Monster mural she painted in Chatham, Mass.

When the Leusner family moved from Maine to Tacoma two years ago, they brought their love of the Boston Red Sox with them.

“The Red Sox are a great team to root for and everyone should root for them,” Sue Leusner joked.

Her husband, Charles, and their two children Coco, 5, and Bode, 3, began settling into their North End home about three weeks ago. However, Leusner said she began searching about a year ago for something that could make their new home feel more like the one they left behind.

That is where M-C Lamarre comes into the picture. She is a Massachusetts native muralist commissioned by the Leusner family to recreate the “Green Monster” for their 3-year-old son’s bedroom wall. This monster is far from scary though. It is actually the nickname for Fenway Park baseball field’s infamous 37-foot green left field wall.

“We’ve been so excited for the project,” Leusner said. “We are so glad M-C’s here. She’s been working her butt off.”

Lamarre has been creating art her whole life, but her talents first blossomed through photography. Her portfolio quickly branched out to painting after her sibling began having children.

“I’ve always been creatively inclined,” Lamarre said. “I have a big family and I was asked to paint murals in nurseries. I had a lot of nieces, so after a while I wanted to do something that was different.”

After creating a mural inspired by the “Green Monster” for her nephew, Lamarre said she “took a leap of faith” in 2004 and started a business specializing in recreating the mural. What makes her business unique is that each client can choose any game from the field that holds special significance and have it recreated on almost any surface.

The Leusner family has decided they want to recreate the May 2008 Red Sox vs. Kansas City game pitched by Tacoma-native Jon Lester. The Red Sox left-hander threw an impressive no-hit game after making a full recovery from anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a treatable, rare form of blood cancer.

“I get goose bumps when I think about it and I’m almost in tears,” Leusner said. “Everyone went nuts because of how significant that moment was.”

Commemorating the Red Sox pitcher’s successful fight symbolizes another battle the Leusner family hopes to overcome. Little Bode has been diagnosed with autism. Through Lamarre’s mural, Leusner is reminded to have hope that one day her son will overcome his condition just like the Red Sox pitcher overcame his.

“We will have the scoreboard in the mural, but there will also be a small part of it with a message in Morse code that means ‘recover,’” Leusner said.

Lamarre will attempt to recreate the Leusner family’s piece of Fenway in just two days. She said she is grateful to make a living doing something she is so passionate about.

“The niche found me as much as I found it,” she said. “The best thing so far is not having to go to a desk job every day. It’s been a lot of risk-taking, but you have to be willing to put yourself out there.”

Lamarre hopes her talent takes her out of the East Coast more often. Although most of her work is in that region, she has also completed projects in places like Pennsylvania and Florida.

Lamarre’s ultimate quest is to complete a “Green Monster” mural in all 50 states prior to April 2012, just in time to celebrate Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary.

During her time in the Northwest, Lamarre attended a Seattle Mariners game at Safeco Field. Although she and Leusner agree that the park is beautiful, the commercialism makes it starkly different than their historic Fenway Field.  

“A lot of parks have become more commercial and don’t have the same uniqueness of Fenway, or Wrigley, or the older parks,” Lamarre said.

Leusner, whose family has gone to every Red Sox game at Safeco Field since moving to the area, said there are pros and cons to Safeco.

“The Mariners fans are a lot more mellow than fans back home. They are more accepting of different kinds of fans. One year, we went to a game at Yankee Stadium and we didn’t dare wear our Red Sox gear.”

She also noted that trying to get tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park is nearly impossible, but that there is almost always a seat available in Safeco.

“It’s (Safeco) pretty amazing and we always have fun when we go to games there,” Leusner said. “But Fenway is so unique. I love that the park is uncomfortable. The seats are old and some of them don’t have a great view, but there is just lots of charm and history.”

Commenting rules