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.
The brick and window facade of the old American Thread Company provides a backdrop for the playful and colourful mural by Golden305.
The artist, Venezuelan artist, Cristhian Saravia (aka Golden305), is an illustrator and muralist originally from Venezuela but now based in Miami, Florida.
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.
below: Anatomically correct heart in blue hands, a painting by Llemonmoss.
below: Left – “Home Cooked Meals Feed the Soul” by Nick Pinciaro and on the right – “Vessel” by Amanda Beard Garcia.
below: Left – “My Father’s Keeper” by Emily Kwong and on the right – “Nou La” by Rachel Domond
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
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.
below: Another John Breiner painting, ‘Float’, is on the reverse side of the one above.
below: In the foreground is ‘Modern Systems’ by NDA
below: Quakenbush Square, “Belonging” by Adam Fujita
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.
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.
below: On the other side of the Quackenbush Garage is this painting, ‘Mix Tape’ by Hellbent (aka J. Mikal Davis)
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
below: A couple of scenes from ‘Geraldines Reverie’ by Elizabeth Zunon
below: At Orange and Water, ‘The River that Flows in Two Directions’ by Rachel Baxter.
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.
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.
below:Ernesto Maranje, flora and fauna, rhinocerus, black bear and at least two species of birds.
below: ‘The Resident’ by Smug on Central Avenue painted in 2019.
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.
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.
below: On the same building as the bear is another piece by Bordalo II, a mouse with perky ears and long whiskers.
below: A side view of the mouse gives a good look at the depth of the artwork.
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.
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!
below: Olaf from “Frozen”
below: A one-eyed minion – Although there were other one-eyed minions in the Despicable Me series, the most famoud one is Stuart.
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.
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.
below: Three happy friends; boys laughing together – by Ramarru
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.
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.
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?)
From across the street it looks rather chaotic, colourful but a bit of a mess.
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.
A Harlem landmark, the Apollo Theatre features prominently in the mural.
A black panther lurks here too.
Planet Harlem Story is a website to visit if you are interested in more of the story behind the mural.
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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….”
The word ‘Infinity’ is written on the man’s gold sleeve. His other sleeve says ‘Faith’.
Eyes on the Streets 