Photography by Bo Carlock/Spacecrafting | Randi Steingold, Megan Speight, Emma Remer, Mercedes Austin, Maggie Morrison
Mercedes Austin
For nearly 25 years, Mercedes Austin has been reimagining what tile can be. The founder and CEO of Mercury Mosaics has built a reputation for transforming an everyday material into a medium for artistic expression, collaboration and community.
“I want to challenge what people believe is creatively possible with tile,” says Austin. That mindset has fueled the handmade artisan tile company’s inventive approach to color and pattern and continues to guide its evolution.
The creative firm is making space for projects that allow the full team to shine: highly custom, large-scale mosaic murals that translate artistic visions into handcrafted ceramic tile.
“We are makers, but we are also partners,” she says. “We understand the craft, the complexity and the communication required to bring ambitious creative work into an environment.”
Exhibit A: the way the team translated the artwork of Dyani White Hawk, who merges the visual language of abstraction with Lakota forms, to a large-scale tile installation for Studio Bar at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The final piece, “Nourish,” highlights the movement and life within her art — as well as the team’s ambition to push the boundaries of their creative expression.
Next up was a mural depicting Heather Novak-Peterson’s watercolor work, which focuses on the beauty and power of birch and oak trees, for the newly renovated Central Park building in Woodbury. “We wanted people to see the glimmering tile and get transported to a different place,” says Austin.
She has found a sweet spot working with artisans, architects, engineers, project planners and others who bring spaces to life. “Putting us all together is a great mosaic because of the elements each of us brings forward,” she explains. “These projects aren’t possible with just me; they never would be. That’s why I made the canvases bigger — in order to work with teams and solve bigger problems collaboratively.”
She also values having a financial partner who understands what it takes to grow an entrepreneurial business. “Bridgewater Bank has been a key partner in building the foundation that allows Mercury Mosaics to keep investing in our people, our craft and our increasingly ambitious work,” says Austin. “The stronger the business becomes, the more beauty we get to put into the world.”
Bridgewater Bank is an Equal Housing Lender + Member FDIC
