In a courtyard, behind a museum

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Mary C

below: An emoji come to life and he’s laughing so hard that he’s crying. His phone is his window on the world, but in reality it’s also someone else’s window. This painting by Spok Brillor marks the passageway from Lafayette Street to a courtyard full of street art behind a building that is home to the Punto Urban Art Museum.

large mural by Spok Brillor of a yellow laughing emoji with tears in one eye, holding a smart phone in his hand. phone corresponds to a window in the building.

looking up from below, large mural by Spok Brillor of a yellow laughing emoji with tears in one eye, holding a smart phone in his hand. phone corresponds to a window in the building.

below: In a quiet corner, sits a little metallic fellow (by Pixel Pancho) and a blue peacock (?)

two graffiti aintings, beside a red and a yellow planter with plants, petunis and tomatoes. A white character by Pixel Pancho, white metal, yellow features, sitting on the ground, behind him a bird with a long neck, peacock? or maybe vulture?

below: Strawberry Shortcake is also here with a wise message about eating cake first (by Megzany). She first appeared as a doll in 1979 after being featured in Hallmark greeting cards for a few years before that.

street art painting on red brick wall, strawberry shortcake character, girl with red and white dress, red and white hat, red shoes, with words life's short, cake first.

below: One of the larger murals back in the courtyard is “Doña Mecho” by the duo Dúo Amazonas (Lina Castellanos and Nati Andreoli).

woman in a mural, beside a large table with a black pot on it, head scarf on her head, smoking a pipe

below: Farmers in their fields with mountains behind. This is “Mural De Campo” by Rigo Peralta, Melanio Guzmán, and Ramón Santiago

mural, rural scene, workmen in fields, palm trees, mountain in the distance, two men on horses on dirt road, a couple of dogs, painted by Rigo Peralta, Melanio Guzmán, and Ramón Santiago

below: Radiating lines and a smiling face in a mural (“Migrar”) by Felipe Ortiz and Ivan Salazar.

below: Equality, by Goma and Amby

equality mural, two faces, purple female and blue male, woman has red rose in hter long white hair, man has basket of flowers on his head.

below: A quiet corner among the trees.

Punto Urban Air Museum (PUAM) is located in the Point neighbourhood of Salem and one of it’s goals is to “create a beautiful, uplifting environment for Point residents”. It also hopes to tap into the tourists that visit Salem – to get them to explore the area and help the economy of the Point neighbourhood. There are now more than 90 murals painted here. Not all of them are shown in this blog, but there some of the other Salem posts:

Photos taken July 2024

wrapped buildings

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Mary C

or, in other words, buildings covered in a mural – three examples seen in Salem Massachusetts

below: The Red House, 2019, a bright and lively painting by Colombian artist, Ledania

below: “Villa Alegra” by Antonyo Marest for Punto Urban Art Museum

below: Habernaro Bike Shop, painted with cheerful, whimsical shapes and colours by Annadidathing

one storey building, small pointed arch over entrance, two large windows, front is covered with mural

Photos taken July 2024

El Punto apartments, Salem

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Mary C

The “El Punto” Neighborhood in Salem, Massachusetts now features over 75 large scale murals, by both world renowned and local artists, within a 3 block radius. It is all part of the Punto Open Air Museum, or Punto Urbana Art Project. This blog post focuses on the murals on the sides of a group lowrise (3 storey) apartment buildings in that neighbourhood. Some of these buildings are close together making it awkward to photograph the murals while still keeping in mind the residents’ privacy.

below: Avery happy woman in shades of purple, this is “Anacoana” by Ruben Ubiera, 2017

two buildings separated by a walkway, each has a mural on the side

below: “Communion with us” by GLeo – a young woman in white veil, dress and gloves.

group of 3 storey apartment buildings in el punto neighbourhood in Salem Massachusetts, home of Punto Open Air Museum, large murals on exterior walls

below: “Eternal Vibrations” by Trek6 (aka Oscar Montes). A hummingbird with long flowing colourful tail feathers, like ribbons blowing in the breeze as the bird flies.

below: One of the walkways between buildings.

below: Like the text says, “Here for the Imaginable” by Meg Zany, 2018

below: The shape of leaves, white on reddish brown, in an untitled mural by Veronica Rivera.

below: Part of “Stranger Things” by Jeff Henriquez, 2017 – three men in three different colours, with a night time scene with car lights and roads, running through them. (full mural in the next photo)

below: “Three Eyed Witch” by Edward Granger, 2018

below: ” El Campesino” ( or The Farmer) by Ruben Ubiera, 2017

below: Tucked back in a corner is an untitled mural by Aquarela Sabol

below: Krave’s “El Mono Fresco”

below: High up on a wall, a flower adorned head and a profile portrait of a woman, “Kaupoku” by Hula

below: Up high, a man in a white hat. The mural, “Tirando Con Pique”, is painted on a wall beside a staircase. Don Rimx is the artist. 2017

Photos taken August 2024

on Congress St apartments

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Mary C

On the left is a mural by Okuda (aka Okuda San Miguel) called “Cat Witch” (it is Salem after all!) showing a figure that is both human and feline. Her fur/skin/body is constructed using many multicoloured triangles which is Okuda’s signature style. It was painted in 2017.

below: Also from 2017, is a mural with a very long title, “Una mirada que embruja por la calles de Salem.” In English this is: “An enchanted look in the streets of Salem”. The artist was Belin (aka Miguel Ángel Belinchón) and it is painted in a style that he calls post-neocubism. A modern day Picasso so to speak.

close up of the face of the person in large vertical mural by Belin, split face, post neo cubism,

below: The last mural is also the most recent as it dates from 2023. On the right and partially hidden behind the tree, is an El Punto Community mural, “Generations” – “Generaciones” (follow the link for the full story behind the mural).

two murals on adjacent apartment buildings on congress street in salem massachusetts, one by belin and one designed by david fichter

It features events (e.g. a fire in 1914 that destroyed a church) as well as recognizable places and people in the community. It was designed by David Fichter.

el punto community mural designed by david fichter

The mural was painted on metal panels with the help of Xerxes Butt, Bianca Oppedisano and Joshua Winer, and then installed on the side of this building.

A shout out to Punto Urban Art Museum, the organization behind the murals in Salem.

Photos taken in July 2024

Dream Home

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Mary C

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.

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