Tag Archives: Bikismo

under the railway in Lynn

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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.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,, on a pillar supporting a railway bridge, a purple octopus on white background

below: Three men and a wolf.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, at the top is a wolf head, below are three male figures mostly in red tones, water at the bottom

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

below: From Lynn with love.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

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.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, portraits of people with words about humanity and color

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, grimly toys, red balloon, character wrapped up in cloth like a mummy

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

below: Autism, Lola, and Nanay…..

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

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

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,
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

concrete pilar supporting railway bridge, painted pink, with street art creature in white<

below: Also by the tracks…

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA,

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.

street art mural in Lynn Mass USA, large mural on side of apartment building of a young woman, with text, do you realize, painted by kevin Ledo

a walk around Holyoke

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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
rooster, in a mural, mostly its head

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

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

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

painting on a door at number 403, back of figure with word colonia written across the back, smiley face graffiti on the head,

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

mural with many people in it
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

part of a mural with a fountain and sunflowers

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.

memorial_fingers_heart-2

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