Fairhaven School Home to New Henry Huttleston Rogers Mural

A Fairhaven School is home to a new mural of the town's famous benefactor, Henry Huttleston Rogers.  What better school to choose for a tribute than on the Fairhaven school that bears his name, the Rogers School?

The Rogers school has been vacant for roughly 10 years, since it merged with the new Wood School on the site of the old Wood School on Sconticut Neck Road.  The town and the surrounding neighbors in Fairhaven village can't seem to come to an agreement about what should be developed at the former school.

The building has since slowly and steadily fallen into a state of disrepair, however the surrounding grounds are surprisingly well maintained.  The playground still attracting little visitors when the weather is warmer.

Enter local artist Brian Tillett.  He has painted a number of different murals around the Greater New Bedford area, including a tribute to a local man who passed away this summer, Justin Monteiro.  Tillett told us that Monteiro was a childhood friend.

Tillett's work is incredibly realistic.  Larger than life, naturally, yet the features on his subject's face look alive.

His depiction of Henry Huttleston Rogers is a bit different.  The Rogers mural is so realistic that the signature painted next to his face looks exactly like his actual signature from when the oil/railroad mogul was alive.  Rogers' face is also extremely realistic, with one exception.  It is colored bright blue.

On the surface, the most obvious reason would most likely be his skin is "Blue Devil" blue.  We've heard a lot about "bleeding blue" over the past few weeks with Fairhaven football's road to the Super Bowl.  Who could possibly bleed more blue than the man who paid for Fairhaven High School to be built?

An alternative explanation for HHR's blue face could be that he is saddened that the neighborhood where he once lived can't come to an agreement about what to do with his namesake.