Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the Winooski News
In February 2020, just weeks before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Will Kasso Condry sat at home in Vermont with a sketchpad and a question for his wife, Jennifer Herrera Condry.
“If you were a graffiti writer,” he asked, “what would your name be?”
“Juniper,” she replied without hesitation, recalling a childhood nickname rooted in an old folk song, Jennifer Juniper. Will jotted it down. Juniper. He liked the sound of it.
“Juniper Creative,” he thought. It stuck.
That moment marked the quiet birth of Juniper Creative Arts—a family-run collective that would soon transform walls and communities across Vermont. But the seeds were planted years earlier.
The Juniper Creative Arts Collective has created over 40 murals in Vermont, at sites including Ben and Jerry’s in Burlington, the Alchemist Brewery in Stowe and Waterville Elementary in Waterville.
Will, a muralist raised in Trenton, N.J., first met Jennifer in 2012 at Middlebury College. At the time, she was a founding director of the school’s Anderson Freeman Resource Center, the first multicultural center on campus. His niece, a student there, invited him to speak about using art as activism.
“I was running a grassroots arts nonprofit in Trenton, New Jersey called SAGE Coalition—Styles Advancing Graffiti Evolution,” he said. “We were basically turning derelict communities into outdoor art galleries.”
That first Vermont visit led to more collaboration. By the end of 2016, Will and Jennifer were dating and got married in 2017. In early 2017, he moved to Vermont full-time, taking a residency at Middlebury College. Together, they began merging their creative and community-focused work—Will painted murals, and Jennifer helped shape their vision and connect with students.
It wasn’t long before others noticed their synergy.
During a residency at Princeton University in 2018, they realized how well they worked together.
“Jennifer’s insight was instrumental in making that project happen,” Will said. “Everybody at the university was like, ‘Wow, you guys should, like, really do this together all the time.’”
It was at this residency that Will and Jennifer really started putting the building blocks together of what is now the Juniper Creative Arts Collective.
“There’s a lot of intention around what we do,” Will said. “We primarily paint Black and Brown stories. And most of our models come from people right here in this state—young people right in this state.”
He paused and explained: “And it’s still very dangerous to do this type of work. I think people tend to forget that part.”
Will recalled a time when his daughter, Alexa Herrera Condry, who often assists with Juniper’s projects, was working on a mural when a stranger pulled up in a car.
“She told us later, ‘This lady just rolled up on me, started asking why we were painting all these Black people on the wall,’ and so on. Stuff like that happens. Pretty frequently, actually.”
The incident wasn’t isolated.
“One project in particular is in 2022, we almost had to shut down because some of the students were just, you know, being racist, for lack of a better term, right?” Will said.
He added: “And it’s not just Vermont–it’s everywhere. But here, we’re in a very white state, and we’re doing very progressive, Black-centered art.”
That kind of visibility, Will said, can be both powerful and threatening.
Despite the challenges, Kasso and his family remain rooted in purpose. They don’t shy away from the discomfort that can arise. If anything, it affirms their mission.
“We don’t move in fear around that, you know, because it’s the truth, and we tell the truth in our work,” Will said.
Jennifer added, “There’s a lot of joy in the work that we do—not just for us, but also the communities that we work with. These murals end up living. They become landmarks as public art.”
That impact is especially clear in schools, where Juniper’s model centers student voices. Projects often begin with a small cohort—about 5-15 students—who participate in a brainstorming session, share stories and contribute to the idea behind the piece.
“Administrators have to trust student voices,” Jennifer said.
“We just show up with open minds,” Will added.
One standout example is the Winooski School District, where Juniper worked from October 2023 to June 2024. What started as a plan for three murals blossomed into five—thanks to a particularly expressive group of fourth and fifth graders.
“The content they gave us was so rich, we had to spread it out,” Will said. “That was a first for us—especially working with kids that young.”
The students were guided by their art teacher Renee Weertman, known as Ms. Renee, who helped them prepare and reflect deeply on their ideas.
“They knew exactly who we were when we walked in,” Jennifer said.
“It was such a unique opportunity for my kids to experience these amazing artists,” Weertman said. “We looked at Juniper’s past murals and even watched a short video interview with them so the kids would know what to expect. They were so stoked—they couldn’t wait to be a part of it.”
Weertman added: “I think their brainstorming session is really important. I think they do a really good job of hearing, hearing the community, hearing who they are.”
“It’s completely driven by the community itself,” Weertman said.
In addition to murals at the elementary school, Juniper collaborated with middle and high school students for a large-scale piece in the school district’s central lobby—tying together themes from every age group.
And their work didn’t stop there. Juniper Creative has also painted murals around town including Winooski Organics on East Allen Street.
Dillon Lovell, the co-owner of Winooski Organics, said, “We’d seen Juniper’s work around Winooski and always loved how vibrant and colorful it was. That’s what we wanted—something beautiful that would bring life to our space.”
He added that the building was pretty run-down when they took it over, and the mural felt like the final touch.
“They tied in all these Vermont-specific elements—the painted turtle, the hermit thrush, the Winooski River. It was an easy decision to work with them. They’re just really cool people, and it was amazing to see each member of the family bring their own touch to the mural,” Lovell said.
But beyond aesthetics, Juniper’s work has a deeper impact. Will recalled a summer camp student whose mother approached them in tears.
“She said, ‘We thought we were going to have to commit our son. Nothing was working. Now he’s talking about astronomy, the environment—his future.’”
Will paused. “She said, ‘I don’t know what you did—but I have a completely different child.’”
Through art, the Condry family hopes to do more than paint walls. They want to illuminate truths, empower youth and help communities see themselves—and each other— more clearly.
“Liberation through imagination,” Will said.