Wow! I never expected to have a chance to lead a tour of my outdoor public art! Well the Third Age Club, part of the Senior Center at the Salem Community Life Center changed all that. A bus was engaged, a route was charted, a megaphone was activated, and we were off!
First stop: The Sunflower utility box located at the corner of Nichols Street and Boston Street in Salem, MA. The City of Salem, MA had decided to brighten up the city and raise citizens’ spirits after Covid with their Positive Thoughts Art Box Project. My design shows a sunflower garden, full of cheerful flowers, butterflies and bumblebees; and positive quotes are painted both on the street side and the sidewalk side.
Second stop: Brooksby Farm utility box located at 82 Main Street, right outside the Peabody Institute Public Library. My design celebrates Brooksby Farm’s popular “pick your own apples” program which is an autumn tradition on the North Shore. This box was part of the Peabody Outside the Box utility box mural project to focus on community pride and to bring art to unexpected places.
Third stop: Mrs Fenton’s Tea Party to the right of Walgreen’s across from the Peabody Institute Public Library on Main Street, Peabody. This is part of the Outside the Box project Project. My theme alludes to a historical figure in Peabody who used to have lovely tea parties at her home my Brooksby Farm. A tea party is celebrated there annually in her honor.
Next: We drove down Swampscott Road, Salem, to the utility box in Swampscott at the end of that street — the intersection of Danvers and Essex Streets. There, I painted a Patriotic Utility Box at the site of the Jared Raymond memorial. The box features flags representing all the branches of the U. S. Armed Services and one for P.O.W.s. It also has special symbols included in the design that were suggested by Mrs. Raymond, Jared’s mother who planned and cares for the memorial.
Fifth Stop: Take-out lunch from the ever-fabulous Periwinkle’s Food Shop in Salem!
Sixth Stop: My Big Blue Wave, a 77 foot wide and 17 foot tall mural along the entire side of the Swampscott Department of Public Works Building at 200 Paradise Road. The mural was inspired by Swampscott Schools’ Mascot, Big Blue; and the art was inspired by the famous Japanese wood block print, The Great Wave by Hokusai. Celebrating the intrepid, unsung DPW! Public Works Makes It Happen.
Next: We stopped at the Big Blue Lobster Utility Box outside the Vinnin Square Mall on Paradise Road. This mural celebrates the cooperative spirit of the Swampscott Elementary School children. When a new elementary school was built to house all the students, a new mascot had to be agreed upon, and with lots of discussion, the children decided upon a Blue Lobster. If only adults could work together so well.
Eighth stop: We stopped at my Muñeca Statue on Lafayette Place in Salem. She stands 12 feet tall with her back to the ocean, and embodies the spirit of kindness and acceptance to new Americans as they make their way in the USA. I covered her skirt with uplifting quotes in the languages of the various cultures that have called this traditionally gate-way neighborhood home: Spanish, French, Gaelic, Polish, and English.
Last: Our final swing before returning to the Senior Center to enjoy our Periwinkle’s lunches was the Rainbow Plugs at Reilly Plaza. It was meaningful because this was my very first utility box mural, and it was the the first round of such murals in Salem.
What a wonderful and memorable day!
