Chicopee’s people

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Mary C

below: Chicopee mural along the ground floor level of an apartment building in the center of town.

many cars parked in front of a 4 storey brick apartment building, with murals painted across the lower level, the word chicopee in large red capital letters, a red and white tram with people, a woman on a bicycle, poppies,

below: From a different angle

red and white tram, with people, part of larger mural

below: The poppy as a symbol of remembrance. I haven’t been able to learn why it appears in at least three murals in the city unless it is coincidence). There are poppies in the Chicopee mural above as well as on this smaller painting. The state flower is the mayflower so that is not an explanation for the poppy….

below: “Work and Progess”, Commonwealth Murals, 2022

mural with title workers and progress, people in different jobs, different ages, men and women, and children

part of a larger mural, workman in a hardhat

woman, grandmother, and children in a mural

below: “Paint the Woods” by Christina Bryden, 2020 – A stained glass rose window makes this building look like a church but it is actually Chicopee City Hall. It was built in the early 1870s and the architect was Charles E. Parker of Boston. It was modelled on the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence Italy. Chicopee is on the Connecticut River.

mural by christena bryden titled paint the woods, shows chicopee city hall on the shore of a river, Connecticut river

below: USS Chicopee – During WW2 she served as a station tanker, or as an escort oiler, helping to refuel ships along the eastern USA coast or in the Atlantic. In the later stages of the war she saw service assisting the US Pacific Fleet (during Iwo Jima and Okinawa). In 1946 she was returned to her owners, Standard Oil; she ended her life as a container ship, under a few different names. She was scrapped in 2010.

black lives matter mural, portrait of three people with a word associated with each, valued, beloved, worthy,

below: A large white dog on a blue leash, a painting by Betz (half of dou, Etam Cru), aka Polish artist Mateusz Gapski. Painted March 2024 – it is on the same apartment building as the Chicopee mural at the top of this blog post. This painting was also a Beyond Walls project.

large mural of a white dog with a blue leash

Photos taken July 2024

Vhils and flowers

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Mary C

One of the joys of exploring cities that have organizations and programs that promote good street art, is finding walls that have been a canvas for artists with global reach. In this case, the city of Chicopee (that I suspect many people outside of Massachusetts have never heard of) has a mural by Vhils, aka Alexandre Farto, a Portuguese artist whose work is now found in over 30 countries.

On the side of a residential building, a large mural by Vhils of a man's face with the word chicopee on the top and the year 1848 on the bottom, like a coin. On a lower section of the wall is a mural of different types of flowers on a bright blue background - poppies, daisies, foxglove, and more

below: A better look at the Vhils work – He hasn’t painted this mural. Instead it has been created using a bas-relief carving technique. The colours in the mural are the colors of the different layers on the wall.

below: A garden of color. Bright red poppies with white and yellow daisies…. Blue hollyhocks and yellow delphinium (I think!) too.

Photos taken July 2024

fire hydrant silliness

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Mary C

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!