under the railway in Lynn

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Mary C

Lynn is a town in Massachusetts just outside of Boston. It is also one of the towns that participate in Beyond Walls, a non-profit organization that believes that art can build better cities. There is a lot of street art here! This isn’t the first post about Lynn – it is a look at some of the painting along the railway line near the station in central Lynn.

below: As the railway passes through Lynn, it is above grade. The sections underneath along the parking lot on Mt Vernon Street have been decorated with street art murals. The large building in the background is on the other side of the tracks and is featured in another blog post, Behind a building on Union Street

street art murals in Lynn Mass USA, under the railway that runs above grade here, as seen from beyond Mount Vernon Street

below: Part shiny chrome and part matte gray, a little whale by Bikismo (aka the chrome master!).

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, by Bikismo, on bright yellow background, a whale that is partially shiny chrome and partially matte gray

below: Spray painting with great gusto with Okaje.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, by artist Okaje, a man in spray painting a pink blob

below: Tentacles of a purple octopus slither up the post.

below: Three men and a wolf.

below: A marvelous steamy picture of Engine 481 on the Boston and Maine railway painted by Ben Keller.

below: From Lynn with love.

below: Spread your magic on cassette (how long ago did we do that!?).

below: History by Life Art from 2021. There is more text at the bottom of the panel but only “Humanity in colors” can be read.

below: Wraps Mummy and its red balloon, by Grimly Toys

below: A row of people across the top, by Annadidathing aka Anna Dugan

below: A very purple face, painted by Bycazo (aka Jessica)

below: Autism, Lola, and Nanay…..

below: At one end of the parking lot is a large mural that is a collaboration between Yu-Baba and Key Detail.

close up of part of mural by yu-baba and key detail in ynn massachusett,

below: On the other side of the tracks there is more art.

a row of street art murals under a railway line

below: A canine-like critter (dog? wolf?) with a black shiny nose and sharp white teeth by Ghost Beard

large canine looking creature with a big black nose, long snout, and big white teeth, text says ghost beard

below: Nead2‘s rendition of Bart Simpson as a graffiti artist.

street art featuring Bart Simpson, by nead 2

below: It seems to rise like a plume of smoke – a painting on one of the pillars supporting the railway bridge, painted by Yuknow K Lou

below: Also by the tracks…

below: Ruben Ubiera painted this mural on Silsbee Street close to the railway tracks and station. There are words on the black band on the gorilla’s shoulder that say “Entering Lynn”.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA by Ruben Ubiera, large gorilla,

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, by Ruben Ubiera

the words leaving memories always written in black capital letters on a wall with other street art colours

below: Lastly, just across from the tracks Kevin Ledo has painted “Do you realize” on the side of one of the small apartment buildings.

three women of Lynn

Posted on February 9, 2025 by Mary C

This post highlights three murals in Lynn Massachusetts that feature a portrait of a woman. They certainly aren’t the only women portrayed in Lynn, they just happen to be located close to each other.

below: Layers of women. Two portraits on different buildings but from the same viewpoint. In front, “The Protector” by David Zays; In back, a mural by Marka27.

below: From a better angle, the woman in blue with a yellow flower in her hand in the mural by Marka27, aka Victor Quinonez.

below: Yellow petals flying away, blowing in the breeze.

below: “The Protector”, a mural by David Zayas. Like many of his murals, there is a lot of symbolism. The aloe plant is known for its healing properties and hence is a symbol of protection. The rooster on her shoulder represents the resilience and fighting spirit that we need when life get tough.

below: Looking closer at the intricate detail in the rose pattern in her blouse and the detail in the rooster’s colourful feathers.

below: The orange colour in the bird has faded a bit so it’s more difficult to tell that it is a robin.

below: “Grandma Eve” by Helen Bur is on the same building as the Davd Zayas mural, but on the other side. Bur’s grandmother is shown holding a playbill designed by her husband during WW2 when he was a prisoner of war in the Pacific. The prisoners put on a play, ‘Murder at Sea’, and the artist’s grandfather designed the playbill for the show.

Photos taken July 2024

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

Lowell’s murals

Posted on September 8, 2024 by Mary C

Like many cities in Massachusetts, the organization Beyond Walls has been responsible for bringing great artists into the city to paint interesting murals that liven up public spaces and bring some colour to different neighbourhoods.

below: A David Zayas mural, “Otro Rumbo” covers the side of a building at Athenian Corner on Market Street. It contains many traditional Puerto Rican symbols and objects, including a rooster that symbolizes strength. For this mural, Project LEARN (Lowell Educational Alliance Resource Network) was also involved.

large mural by David Zayas, girl in skirt and bare feet walks over a row of chairs, from seat to seat

below: Evaristo Angurria (or Nestor Garcia painted this mural at the site of Mechanics Hall. I am not sure why, but he seems to like painting women with curlers in their hair.

below: Three pottery jugs representing “healing”, i.e whole – broken – fixed, a mural by Bryan Beyung that covers the side of the Elliot Church in the Back Central neighbourhood.

large mural by Bryan Beyung on the side of an old brick church, Elliot church, in Lowell Massachusetts. Shows three large pottery jugs, the first is whole, the middle is broken, and the last is repaired.

below: Celebrating the Irish heritage in the area and how they helped build Lowell. They were one of the first immigrants to arrive starting in the 1830s. They found labor working at the many mills in and around Lowell.

Large mural in Lowell, on the side of old factory building, historic iage of old factory with people going to work, also two large churches in the mural, Irish heritage of the area,

below: “Rayo Feliz” by Golden 305 at the Middlesex Community College’s Facilities building. (More of his work in Holyoke).

below: Also on the Lowell campus of Middlesex Community College, this time at the Cowan Center, is another mural called “Dream, Hunt, Make.” It was was painted by FONKi, a Cambodian street artist born in France but now living in Montreal.

A quote by FONKi (source: his Instagram page)

“DREAM, HUNT, MAKE
Within the eyes of the Dreamer, lies the keys of the future,
Sweetness and bitterness you will taste,
Focus in the Present, you must,
Educate yourself, you will.
.
Obsessively, his dream, the Hunter chases,
Darkness and light you will meet,
Wise with knowledge, you must be,
Continue flying, you will.
.
Under The Maker’s hands, life takes color.
Creation is complex,
An Art it is, to make it simple,
To build, pure must be your intentions.
.
A Sweet Dreamer, Wise Hunter & Pure Maker you shall become.”

Photos taken August 2024

behind a building on Union Street

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Mary C

This is the back of 270 and 280 Union Street in Lynn MA as seen from the (large) parking lot. All of these murals were painted as part of the Beyond Walls program.

A closer look at the four of them…..

below: Two large murals, male and female, by Erin Holly

below: A large, vibrant mural titled “KLK Mi Gente” painted by a group of artists: Angurria (aka Nestor Garcia), Dovente (aka Johann M. Baez) Silvia López Chavez, and Willgom (aka Willy Gomez). The artists are either from the Dominican Republic or have Dominican roots.

“KLK” is an acronym for “Que lo que!,” which loosely translates to the English, in meaning and usage, as “What’s up?” The mural is a celebration of Dominican culture.

below: Hanimal, an artist from Colombia, two little guys like two peas in a pod , meticulously detailed,

mural in green tones, on a red brick wall, lots of detail, two little people with eyes closed together in a pea pod, pea plant, painted by hanimal

below: Portuguese artist, Diogo Machado aka Add Fuel painted the top corner of the building. His ‘layers’ wrap around the corner, each layer revealing a different tile pattern.

mural by add fuel, high up on two sides of a corner of a brick building, designs in blue and white as well as brown and white, painted to look like layers of wallpaper being removed to reveal the layer below,

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

a walk around Holyoke

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Mary C

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

threads

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Mary C

The brick and window facade of the old American Thread Company provides a backdrop for the playful and colourful mural by Golden305.

mural by Golden 305 in Holyoke, beside old brick factory and warehouse

The artist, Venezuelan artist, Cristhian Saravia (aka Golden305), is an illustrator and muralist originally from Venezuela but now based in Miami, Florida.

mural by Golden 305 in Holyoke, bright colours, purple background, unicorn wearing converse shoes, spool of thread with a needle bee, blue diamond,

close up of part of mural by Golden 305 in Holyoke Massachusetts, brown unicorn with white t shirt and ice cream cone as horn, green comb in his curly black hair , wearing converse all star running shoes

part of American Thread com mural in Holyoke, blue clouds with happy faces, and a few blue rain drops, pink heart, rainbow,

close up of part of a mural by golden 305

Photos taken July 2024

Holyoke Bordalo2

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Mary C

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.

Photos taken July 2024

two, larger than life

Posted on July 27, 2024 by Mary C

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.

2 very large murals in Lynn Massachusetts, one by Ernesto Maranje with a rhino and the other by smug of a young man with his shoes

below: Ernesto Maranje, flora and fauna, rhinocerus, black bear and at least two species of birds.

mural, blue background, a large grey rhinocerus with one horn, part of his body is a landscape scene with water, trees, flowers, and other plant life, along with a small black bear. There are also birds. A mural by Ernesto Maranje

below: ‘The Resident’ by Smug on Central Avenue painted in 2019.

a large mural by street artist smug, a young Black man in a white sleeveless top has a pair of yellow, black, and white running shoes slung over his shoulder. on a brick building in Lynn, traffic in the street

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.

Photos taken July 2024

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: Beyond Walls

under the railway in Lynn

three women of Lynn

Chicopee’s people

Lowell’s murals

behind a building on Union Street

Vhils and flowers

a walk around Holyoke

threads

Holyoke Bordalo2

two, larger than life