HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) – The city of Hartford became a little more colorful Friday morning.

In what is a growing trend, another blank wall in the Capital City is now covered with a mural, this one commissioned by an insurance giant.

Artist Corey Pane put the finishing touches on Hartford’s latest public work of art. His mural on Pearl Street celebrates The Hartford. Pane put the insurance company’s logo front and center.

“That, kind of like, was presiding over the whole city, and the small business on the bottom, you’ve got the coffee shop, the ice cream shop and just some local, prominent Hartford landmarks,” Pane said.

Those small businesses are featured because that’s what The Hartford is focused on.

“The Hartford insures nearly 1.5 million small businesses across the country,” explained Sarah Morin, assistant director of public relations at The Hartford. “With this mural, we are celebrating the local small business growth and economic momentum we’ve seen right here in our corporate home of Hartford.”

The people who picked the Pearl Street location found a spot that Pane knows well because just on the other side of the parking lot is another mural he created a couple of years ago called Just Grow, which represents growth, resilience and strength from the pandemic lockdown.  

Hartford is becoming known for its murals. Just last week, there was a mural honoring the Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers. The city unveiled a mural honoring hip-hop clothing designer Anthony Griffin a week before that.

The tallest mural in New England went up on the Millenium apartment building this spring. Hartford also has a mural honoring inspiring women like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Ella Grasso. And there’s the Black Lives Matter mural by the Capitol, recently updated after it was vandalized.

“People are starting to really catch on to what murals can do for the city and even for the community surrounding it,” Pane said. “It can really change the space and bring a lot more to the city and bring a lot of new businesses or different things that attract people and kind of bring people together.”

For artists like Pane, instead of being seen by a few people in a gallery, everyone gets to see their art with a city mural.