Historic Lowell Mural
Working with Refuge Lowell, I was presented with the opportunity to help collaborate on a mural on the walls outside of Western Avenue Studios in Lowell. I quickly got involved in the project and enjoyed the processes of touring historic sites in Lowell, mind mapping ideas for the mural, and executing with a team of talented students and artists.
Our intention for this mural was to commemorate the mill workers that once worked in Western Avenue Studios as well as other mills in Lowell, also known as Mill City. There is such a history involved with Lowell, and we made it a priority to express that history and respect in this mural. We used imagery of mill workers in two areas of the mural. One worker by the name of Auguste Bujold was a Western Avenue artist member's relative. We included his portrait in the mural in honor of him, as seen in image 2.
The planning of the mural was one of my favorite parts. I enjoyed hearing the ideas from each of the artists. Image 3 displays the sketch of the mural, using all elements and ideas and combining them into one coherent image.
This mural to me is a great representation of the history of Lowell as well as the current art community at Western Avenue Studios. We used a historic map of Lowell, which was in fact the first map that Western Avenue appeared on. This map for me was a great example of how we combined history with contemporary. The map in itself is history in that it was the way the land was seen. However, we acknowledged the importance of creating our own maps and our own way around the land as working artists in Lowell. This idea of creating our own map can be defined as a psychogeographic contemporary art practice.
Overall, it has been such a great opportunity working with Refuge Lowell, making this mural come to life. I hope that everyone can get the chance to see it!
Check out this article on the mural posted in the Lowell Sun:
http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_30632477/sharing-their-visions-across-city
More images:
