Springfield | Eyes on the Streets

A few scenes from downtown Springfield Massachusetts. Most of these were found around Stearns Square.

below: Bloom’s wall is adjacent to a parking lot on Stearns Square. Most of the images are ads for photographic supplies.

Painting that covers the whole exterior wall of Blooms store, 5 floors, including photo supplies, ads for various photo products, Nikon, Kodak, Zeiss, Ilford, Polaroid, Bestler, Nikor, Bell and Howell, Linhof, Pako, and others, Across the bottom are paintings and mosaics of old cars, motorcycles, and bikes,

below: Motorcycles and cars in paint and mosaics

part of mural on wall, part paint and part mosacis, Indian motorcycles, old fashioned car, woman on motorocycle, back of a bus, words that say A masterpiece of engineering

below: Park Here, park with the birds

parking lot kiosk building painted in bright colours with painting of 3 birds on a wire

parking lot kiosk building painted in bright colours with painting of a large gray pigeon

below: Across the street from the parking lot is, “The Artist” by Jeff Henriquez, 2021

below: Las Vidas Negras Importan! Along with Empathy, Energy, and Equality.

close up on word lives in a black lilves matter mural. pictures and patterns in the letters. Las Vidas Negras Importan!, also hearts with empathy, energy, equality written in them,also a black woman with gold crown and long white gown

Colorburst type of mural yellow in center, with rays radiating from center in pink and orange, gray background

below: “Geoutopia” by Kim Carlino, for Fresh Paint Springfield 2019, seen at Stearns Square.

mural called Geoutopia by Kim Carlino in Springfield Massachusetts, abstract, yellow circles, black striaight lines, red shapes, turquoise and white curved lines,

close up of Kim Carlino mural in red and yellow, painted over windows, white black and turquoise lines run through the red and yellow parts.

below: These portraits of the characters from The Wizard of Oz were painted by John Simpson.

below: John Simpson also painted a series of portraits of Jazz musicians origianally for the Jazz and Roots Festival one year. Carlos Santana is on the right.

below: Three saxophone players, including Charlie Parker in the center.

below: And last, Louis Armstrong and John Lennon

Photos taken July 2024

Springfield MA is home to many murals. This blog post looks at some of them that were seen in the Mason Square neighborhood of that city.

A celebration of Black music that was originally painted in 1974 by Nelson Stevens. Stevens painted many murals in the Springfield area during his lifetime. He died last year at the age of 86. This mural was rededicated earlier in 2022.

below: Martin Luther King in “The Beloved Community” by Nero and Souls.

below: Say Their Names – A tribute mural to the more than 60 black and brown people killed in the USA in the year up to 1 June 2020 by the police – a project that was came about in response to the murder of George Floyd. Also included are the names of Springfield MA residents who have been killed in interactions with the police. This project was organized by Common Wealth Murals and Art for the Soul Gallery, and hosted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services of Springfield. The mural was designed and painted by artist Wane One from New York City, with assistance from two other artists, Nero and Souls.

below: A healing mural – “You heal the soil, You heal yourself, You heal our neighborhood”. Another Community Mural Institute mural. The actual title is “Gardening the Community” and was painted by Ryan Murray, 2021.

below: RIP “Preacher Man”, Randolph Lester (1940-2017) The mural was designed by GoodSpace Murals for the Community Mural Institute. Three Springfield artists were involved: Frankie Borrero, Emma Mesa-Melendez, and Martin Johnson

below: On the walls of Rebecca M. Johnson School there is a series of paintings featuring Ruth E. Carter, costume designer, author and Springfield native. The images also show some of the many costumes she designed for films including Black Panther, Coming to America, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X, and Selma.