Author Archives: Mary C

Dream Home

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On a fence in Salem Massachusetts is a series of paintings by a group of artists who used the book “A Dream Called Home” as inspiration. The book is a memoir by Mexican-American author Reyna Grande and in it tells of her dreams of a stable home and how she makes it happen. Last year several artists participated in the project, including six local artists from the neighborhood. These are the murals on that fence.

title panel in a series of paintings along a fence on Peabody Street in Salem Massachusetts

Punto Urban Art Museum is the organization behind this project.  It was founded by North Shore Community Development Coalition (North Shore CDC) in Salem’s historic El Punto neighbourhood.  This fence is but one of their many projects.

below: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Tortugas” by Kearin Alexander Frias is on the left.

murals on a fence in Salem's El Punto neighbourhood, Dream of Home theme

below: Anatomically correct heart in blue hands, a painting by Llemonmoss. 

mural, mutant teenage ninja turtle, using dominican turtles instead

below: Left – “Home Cooked Meals Feed the Soul” by Nick Pinciaro and on the right – “Vessel” by Amanda Beard Garcia.

two cooking theme murals on a fence in salem, on the right is person holding a rice cooker

below: Left – “My Father’s Keeper” by Emily Kwong and on the right – “Nou La” by Rachel Domond

two murals on a fence, a small tree is in front of the one on the left which is a man's face

below:  There is text in the background that is difficult to see in this photo but it is a blend of two quotes from the book:
 “You are now bilingual, bicultural, and binational. You are not less. You are more, twice the girl you used to be.” Painted by Yixuan Zeng

portrait of a woman, street art on a fence

below: “Last Night Precipice” by Margarita Krylova

portrait of four women standing together, street art on a fence

below: “Detachment” by T.J. Gansenberg

a grey person sitting on the ground, mural

below: Left – ” A Tiny Home, A Perfect Fit” by ERA and on the right – “Coffee” by Alba Ward

mural on a fence, on the right is a dunkin donuts coffee cup in front of an american flag

below: Left – “Seek Peace and Pursue it” by Alexa Wilson, and on the right – “Growth” by Joshua Beckett

below: “Raiz Enmascarada” by Jean Cardona

mural, striped mask

below: “Parque Infantil” by Altagracia

mural, park, with children

below: Left – “Nesting” by Jacob Ginga and on the right – “Growth” by Vicky Ortega

two murals on a fence in salem, on left, a gold and orange bird

below: “Eternamente Bienvenida” by Katherine Castillo

mural

below: “Trabajando Por Un Sueño Mejor” by Ramon Santiago

black cut outs in turtle shapes on a black metal fence

below: “Coming Together” by Tatianna Rivas and Armani Lewis.

mural on a fence, a couple hugging

Photos taken July 2024

under Clinton Street, and vicinity

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In Albany New York, like in many cities, there is a group that promotes street art (especially murals) as way of enriching neighbourhoods and increasing the involvement of people in their communities. Here the group is Capital Walls. One area that they have focused on in downtown Albany is a space under the highway ramps between Interstate 787 and Clinton Street. Most of it is a large parking lot. There are a series of concrete pillars that have now been painted by various artists.

below: mmm

below: John Breiner painted this bird in flight in 2019.

mural on concrete ramp support, bird in flight, many feathers, by john breiner

below: Another John Breiner painting, ‘Float’, is on the reverse side of the one above.

mural on tall concrete support under highway off ramp for Clinton street in Albany

below: In the foreground is ‘Modern Systems’ by NDA

yellow and black abstract mural

below: ‘Paradise Pattern’ by Vanessa Mastronardi,

mural on concrete support

below: ‘Courage’ by Rosie Sunshine

mural on concrete pillar

below: ‘Journey’ by Arzu Fallahi

mural with geometric shapes and designs

below: Quakenbush Square, “Belonging” by Adam Fujita

mural with words, you belong here we all belong together, each word in a different colour, along with a happy face with heart shaped eyes, and a large yellow heart

below: On the lower part of the Quackenbush multi-level parking garage, there is a mural called “Upstate Albany Portrait Landscape” that was painted by George Maxwell Dunn. This is part of it. The part that spells Albany.

albany mural, letters made of objects

below: Part of a “Downtown is Pawsome” campaign are dog statues painted by different artsits. Nipper, as he is known, is about three feet high and is one of ten. This red and black one (‘Industrial Anthropology’) was painted by Stephanie Levay.

dog sculpture painted in red and black

below: “Explore” by Ramiro Davaro-Comas

mural on the side of an entrance to a parking garage, with large text says explore

below: On the other side of the Quackenbush Garage is this painting, ‘Mix Tape’ by Hellbent (aka J. Mikal Davis)

on the side of a parking garage, painted shapes and patterns

below: There are more on and off ramps for the I-787 on the south side of the garage. Here too, some of the supports have been painted. “Back to Life” by D. Colin

part of a larger mural, green hand holding a purple flower pot

below: A couple of scenes from ‘Geraldines Reverie’ by Elizabeth Zunon

part of a larger mural, music theme,

part of a larger mural, shapes of women dancing

below: At Orange and Water, ‘The River that Flows in Two Directions’ by Rachel Baxter.

mural on the side of an elevated section of freeway in albany by rachel becker, orange and blue on white

below: Nearby – “Escape to Nature” by Trash Kid Art (aka Jade Warrick)

large mural on white building

below: At Wallenberg Park, within the dog park, is this doggie mural by Chip Fasciana and Mark Gregory.

street art mural in a dog park, images of dogs on yellow background

“The devil made me do it”

black drawing and text graffiti under highway ramp, the deveil made me do it

Holyoke Bordalo2

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The morning after I posted the photos of the Bordalo2 mouse and bear in Lynn, I saw this on Clemente Street in Holyoke (also Massachusetts)…

It is “Father and Baby Moose”, also by Bordalo II

This is another Beyond Walls project; this time in partnership with the City of Holyoke, El Corazon de Holyoke, and Nueva Esperanza. Clemente Street is in a section of the city with a large Hispanic population.

below: A close up look at baby’s hind leg and all the metal pieces that went into creating it.

Photos taken July 2024

two, larger than life

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There is an intersection in Lynn where three streets tangle together, Washington St, Oxford St, and Central Ave. That is where I was standing when I took this photo – a great view of two immense murals. They are very different from each other and they are both fabulous.

2 very large murals in Lynn Massachusetts, one by Ernesto Maranje with a rhino and the other by smug of a young man with his shoes

below: Ernesto Maranje, flora and fauna, rhinocerus, black bear and at least two species of birds.

mural, blue background, a large grey rhinocerus with one horn, part of his body is a landscape scene with water, trees, flowers, and other plant life, along with a small black bear. There are also birds. A mural by Ernesto Maranje

below: ‘The Resident’ by Smug on Central Avenue painted in 2019.

a large mural by street artist smug, a young Black man in a white sleeveless top has a pair of yellow, black, and white running shoes slung over his shoulder. on a brick building in Lynn, traffic in the street

Both of these murals, and many others, are because of the work of Beyond Walls, a non-profit agency that promotes art in the community. They believe that art and the active spaces that go with it, strengthens cities.

pedestrians walking in front of a building with a large mural by street artist smug, a young Black man in a white sleeveless top has a pair of yellow, black, and white running shoes slung over his shoulder

Photos taken July 2024

Bordalo II in Lynn

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Portuguese artist Bordalo II (aka Artur Bordalo) is known for his animal creations using trash and found objects. There are now two examples of his artwork in Lynn including this bear. Another feature of Bordalo II’s animals is their ‘split personality’ – one half is colourful while the other is in shades of grey.

on an old wood building on a street in Lynn Massachusetts, an artwork by bordalo 2, a Portuguese artist, of a bear, using found objects

below: On the same building as the bear is another piece by Bordalo II, a mouse with perky ears and long whiskers.

bordalo 2 creation, mouse, 3 D artwork on a wall outdoors

below: A side view of the mouse gives a good look at the depth of the artwork.

side view showing 3 D nature of bordalo 2 art

below: A hardhat, vacuum hoses, a pink skateboard, and something yellow with wheels, are among the items used to make the mouse’s eye.

below: A closer look at the face of the bear and all the bits and pieces that were used.

below: Pieces of metal make claws on bear paws including a lone yellow one.

part of a street art piece by bordalo 2, bear paws with claws

on an old wood building on a street in Lynn Massachusetts, an artwork by bordalo 2, a Portuguese artist, of a bear, using found objects, a bright red door also in picture

Photos taken July 2024

If you like Bordalo II’s work, you might like the jellyfish that he made in Lisbon (blog post from December 2023)

fire hydrant silliness

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Many fire hydrants in downtown Chicopee Massachusetts have been painted by members of Sunshine Village (helping and inspiring young adults on the autism spectrum). This is only a small sample of them! If you get the chance to visit Chicopee, how many can you find?

below: A quarter gets you a gum ball!

fire hydrant painted like a gum ball machine full of gum balls, 25 cents,

below: Olaf from “Frozen”

fire hydrant painted like olaf, the snowman in the animated Frozen movie

below: A one-eyed minion – Although there were other one-eyed minions in the Despicable Me series, the most famoud one is Stuart.

fire hydrant painted like a one eyed minion

below: A very happy fellow!

fire hydrant painted like a green minion with a blue and white hat

Photos taken July 2024

Grand Scale

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below: The hoardings around a construction site at 125th and Lexington provided the canvas for a section of the ‘Grand Scale Mural Project’ in Harlem.

street art on hoardings in harlem new york

below: In total, over 100 artists participated in the project. See their website, Uptown Grand Central for more information. Some of the murals are shown below.

pink wall with text, title and description of street art project, grand scale mural project, in harlem, by uptown

below: Three happy friends; boys laughing together – by Ramarru

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, laughing boys, flowers and a butterfly

below: A painting by Minhafofa, aka Marissa Molina … with a tattoo on her shoulder that says Never stop dreaming… and she’s looking at you.

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, woman, with tattoo on shoulder that says never stop dreaming, long black hair in a braid,

below: It looks like he’s swaddled in pink fur. He is Hip Hopper Cam’ron and the portrait was painted by Zane (aka Ivan Jines) using tags of ‘Zane’, a technique that he uses frequently in his portraits.

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, portrait of Cam'ron, a hip hop artist, by Harlem artist Zane, face surrounded by furry hat, holding a pink phone

below: More of the hoardings…. mother and daughter at a table, many faces, a sailboat sailing through a mysterious scene (rough seas? atomic bomb? or just playful clouds?)

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, grand scale mural project

below: FM Ramos (aka Fausto Manuel Ramos)

street art on hoardings in harlem new york

below: Geometrics in bright colours mark a corner.

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, red, blue, and yellow geometrics with some green

below: Big red lips and musical black hair, by Olga Correa

street art on hoardings in harlem new york, by olga correa, women's faces, big red lips, long black hair in braids, musical notes on the hair and in the background

below: A section of the hoardings painted by LFP NYC (aka Luis F. Perez)

street art on hoardings in harlem new york

below: Nomsa, Evan Bishop

street art on hoardings in harlem by evan bishop, a woman's head in profile within the shape of the continent of Africa
street art on hoardings in harlem new york, 125th and Lexington, grand scale mural project

Planet Harlem

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From across the street it looks rather chaotic, colourful but a bit of a mess.

a red car is parked in front of a street art mural beside corner social store, planet harlem mural by paul deo

On closer inspection, it is an amazing collection of figures (mostly famous ones) and stories. This is Planet Harlem. It was started in 2012 by artist Paul Deo. At that time he won a competition to paint a mural by Corner Social (still there!) at 126th St and Malcolm X Blvd. Rucker on the basketball player’s shirt is a nod to Rucker Park, a Harlem park with a basketball court where a number of “stars” honed their skills.

I wish that I could name all the people that this mural celebrates. There is Barak Obama as well as Micheal Jackson, the Jackson Five, and Aretha Franklin but there are other politicians and entertainers too.

part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo

A Harlem landmark, the Apollo Theatre features prominently in the mural. 

part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo

A black panther lurks here too.

part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo

Planet Harlem Story is a website to visit if you are interested in more of the story behind the mural.

 in part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo

Another source for more information about the mural and Harlem’s history can be found at ‘City Lore’ (a site about NYC) where this quote is from: “As the growth in the Black Harlem population continued in the 1920s from places like lower Manhattan, the southern US states, and parts of the Caribbean, an artistic and cultural movement grew to highlight the connections between self-expression, creativity, and Black heritage. Harlem specifically became a place for educators, scholars, writers, jazz musicians, singers, dancers, poets, and activists like Alain Locke, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Marcus Garvey, Duke Ellington, Alberta Hunter, and so many more….”

part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo, Dapper Dan

The word ‘Infinity’ is written on the man’s gold sleeve. His other sleeve says ‘Faith’.

part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo
part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo
part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo
part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo
part of planet harlem mural by Paul Deo
famous African Americans from the past

three women in a mural

Beastie Boys in NYC

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large mural by shephard fairey in the village area of new york city, featuring the music group the Beastie Boys. An image from one of their album covers, Posse In Effect in mostly red and blue. Men standing beside a large ghetto blaster and one man crouching beside it. Looming over stores on 14th Ave near the corner of Avenue A.

A large mural featuring the Beastie Boys looms over 14th Ave and Avenue A in New York City.  The Beastie Boys started rocking in 1981. They recorded and performed their version of hip hop/rock for more than three decades. 

part of large mural by shephard fairey in the village area of new york city, featuring the music group the Beastie Boys. An image from one of their album covers, Posse In Effect in mostly red and blue. Men standing beside a large ghetto blaster and one man crouching beside it.

The mural was painted by Shepard Fairey (aka Obey) as part of the NYC Hip Hop 50 celebration in October 2023.