For artist Raphaella Brice, the Black Madonna over the river in Waterbury is about a community’s self-discovery. Even more so, it represents a return to herself.
It’s been a long journey, one that literally started on the road; Brice was born in 1997 on the side of a highway in Florida.
She spent her early years in New Haven, Conn. Brice’s Haitian family, like most Haitian families, is intensely spiritual. “We went to church all the time,” she remembered. “I couldn’t escape it.”
Even before she was born, Brice was destined for art. By chance, her mother saw a PBS documentary about the Renaissance artist Raphael and was fascinated by his story. “She named me Raphael, but the hospital added the “la”…
