Holyoke | Eyes on the Streets

Over the past few days I have posted pictures of some of the murals in Holyoke Massachusetts. This post will be that last one for that city for now. I know that I didn’t see everything that Holyoke has to offer but I hope to be back soon!

below: “Yagrumo” by Vero Rivera. Rainforest plant with palmate leaves – In brown and white, together forming patterns and designs.

mural on an old brick building, by vero rivera, design using patterns of brown and white leaves

closer view of the brown and white palmate shaped leaves in the rivera mural in holyoke

below: Painted by David Zayas, high energy dancing, with music and movement. The rooster may not be dancing but it too moves with energy and vigor.

mural by david zayas, woman dancing, rooster

below: The Master of Masks, by David Zayas and Don Rimx. The mural portrays Don Raúl Ayala Carrasquillo, who was a master in the art of making vejigante masks – A vejigante is a folkloric character in Puerto Rican festival celebrations, especially during Carnival. He learned his craft from his father and he, in turn, passed the tradition on to his children.

large mural on the side of a midrise residential building in holyoke, of a man in a red baseball cap who is making a mask, by david zayas and don rimx, vacant land around the building, cars parked nearby

closer view of large mural on the side of a midrise residential building in holyoke, of a man in a red baseball cap who is making a mask, by david zayas and don rimx

below: “Child Flower” painted on the former Boys Club building on Race Street, by Gleo

yellow mural by gleo, a boy surround by big yellow flower

below: Colonia – topless, draped with a Puerto Rican flag.

below: Frankie Borrero’s creation, “Transición de las antepasadas” (Transition of the Ancestors)

closer view of frankie borrero mural with many people in it

below: Right – The mural says EL ARCOIRIS as a tribute to an after school program created by Nueva Esperanza more than 20 years ago. They use art and murals as part of their program to engage youth. This mural is a tribute to those pioneers and was painted by Golden 305 (aka Cristhian Saravia). Previously, I posted another of his murals in Holyoke

On the left is “Chromoji” by Bikismo (aka Ismo La Joya del Caribe, or the Chrome Master)

two murals, on left what looks like a shiny reflective face made of ice or metal, and in the right, text mural that says el arcoiris

below: An older El Arcoiris mural, faded blues with a rainbow connection between the two windows. Flowers and butterfles, and a guitar.

older faded el arcoiris mural with flowers, butterflies, rainbow and a Puerto Rican flag

below: A mural on the side of a bakery. Puerto Rica and the USA, Palm trees and sunflowers. Farmers harvesting food from the fields behind the city streets.

mural on the side of a bakery, with garden in front

below: There’s even a horse drawn carriage.

below: Nuestras Raices = Our Ancestors

below: On the large wall of University Products, Yo Soy I am by TakeOne and GoFive

large mural of a boy in native american headdress with red and blue feathers, also the words, yo soy, spanish

An interesting description of this mural is on the Beyond Walls website: “Yo Soy! I am anything and everything. It is not enough to simply exist. Playing it small doesn’t serve the world, therefore it does not serve me. I embody the very essence in which life is created.
I am a powerful force.
I am light.
I am beauty, undefined.
I am capable.
I am resilient.
I am, You are, We are
ENOUGH!”

below: As mentioned in my previous post, Holyoke has the largest number of Puerto Ricans per capita outside of that country.

El Spirit Republic of Puerto Rico – Defending our roots and our communities.

below: mmm

below: Tim Purington was a City Councilor and public health advocate who died in 2019.

below: Needle exchange programs were one of the public health initiatives that he advocated for.

below: “Iguana-boina ” by Rafique aka Rafael Enrique Vega. Here we see the union of the iguana, the symbol of the sun, and “boina”, a dark-colored snake that represents dark rain clouds. From these, life is formed. These elements are found in the Taino creation story where the cave of Iguanaboina was the primordial den from which the Sun emerges to illuminate the earth and to which it returns to hide as the moon emerges. The Taíno people were the predominant indigenous people of the Caribbean.

below: Alvin is missing the rest of his chipmunks.

A few days ago I posted pictures of the father and baby moose that Bordalo 2 made on Clemente Street and yesterday I shared images of the mural ‘La cultura es poder’…. But there are many more Holyoke murals thanks to organizations such as Beyond Walls and Nueva Esperanza. I think that I have barely scratched the surface.
Photos taken July 2024

Culture is power.

La Cultura es Poder was painted by the Colectivo Morivivi in connection with the “Race and Visual Cultures” project of UMASS Amherst. In this mural, swirls of coloured music unite the elements of the story. From the website for Colectivo Moriviví – “the different musical genres can be seen in the mural coming out of the windows and merging in a trail of colors that leads us to a Bomba circle. With this image, we wanted to evoke the connection of the most contemporary rhythms with ancestral traditions. Bomba is very present in the activism of the diaspora and its community practices. As such, culture is resilient and it is power.”

Colectivo Morivivi is an all-women artistic collective, democratizing art and bringing the narratives of Puerto Rican communities to the public sphere. Holyoke Massachusetts has the highest population of Puerto Ricans, per capita, in the continental United States.