Read the May 21, 2022 mural celebration event press release:
| sna-press_release_mural_event-final.pdf |
Read the mural artist winners announcement press release:
| sna_mural_winners_press_rel_9.7.2021.pdf |
THE MURAL PROJECT
About the Mural project: In September of 2021, the Stonybrook Neighborhood Association (SNA) announced the winners of a mural call for entries for the exterior walls of an Extra Space Storage facility at 141 McBride Street in Jamaica Plain. Two areas of the building, totaling 2,500 sq. ft., display these new murals by two Boston-based artists. They were painted in 2022 by Studio Fresh. Julia Csekö and Sharif Muhammad created the winning proposals, selected out of a group of eight semifinalists: Kit Collins, Alexander Cook, Rixy Fernandez, Felipe Ortiz, Chanel Thervil, and Sophy Tuttle. Based on previous artwork submitted by the original pool of over 30 highly-qualified applicants, the semifinalists were each awarded $500 to submit site-specific designs. Submissions were evaluated using criteria including relevance of the theme to Jamaica Plain and uniqueness of artistic vision. The winners each received a cash prize of $5,000. Csekö’s design will be located in three panels on the east side of the Extra Space Storage building while Muhammad’s will be on the northwest corner. The competition entailed a 5-month process, utilizing a jury of seven art professionals and JP community representatives to choose the final artwork. The murals are a result of ten years of the SNA’s advocacy for a community benefit package, overseen by the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), and funded by SSG Development and Construction, which built this large mixed-use project on once contaminated property. Other benefits include the Burnett Street Community Garden and Park, a community meeting room in the Extra Space Storage building, and an expansion of the abutting Southwest Corridor Park. The Jurors: Crystal Bi Wegner, artist, educator, and Creative Civic Design Lead, Design Studio for Social Intervention, Jamaica Plain Resident Bi Wegner is a former art teacher and mural club facilitator at Jamaica Plain's Margarita Muñiz Academy and English High School. She is currently working at the Design Studio for Social Intervention to design tools for co-creating a more equitable, beautiful, and welcoming public. Bi Wegner is a New England Foundation for the Arts 2020 Creative City Grant recipient. She is also an MFA candidate in MassArt's Dynamic Media Institute, studying experience design for socially-engaged art. Sabrina Dorsainvil, Director of Civic Design, City of Boston Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, Jamaica Plain Resident Dorsainvil is an artist, designer, and illustrator. She received her BA from MassArt in Industrial Design and her MS from Parsons School of Design in Design and Urban Ecologies. As a civic designer, her work centers on the human experience and uses creative approaches to address issues within public health, the built environment and human rights. Her artwork focuses on storytelling and finding simple ways of celebrating people and their humanity. Dorsainvil is a national board member for the Creative Reaction Lab and was a 2017-18 Neighborhood Salon Luminary with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Michael Ferrigno, District Manager, Extra Space Storage Ferrigno has been in the self storage industry for over 16 years. A graduate of SUNY Brockport, he has been a District Manager with Extra Space Storage since 2004. Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs, visual artist, organizer, Co-founder, Artists for Humanity (AFH), Director of the Paint Studio and Programming, AFH ProBlak is a painter, muralist, and graffiti artist driven by his vision to beautify the predominantly black and brown communities of Boston. Throughout his career, Gibbs has focused on arts education and conducted workshops for a range of organizations, from Girls Inc. to the Boston Foundation. He has received a number of awards, including Mass Industry Committee's 2006 Graffiti Artist of the Year and Boston Celtics' 2020 Heroes Among Us. In 2019 he curated an exhibition for Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Fest and in 2020 completed an artist residency, co-leading "The Mural Project," at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Karen Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Jamaica Plain Resident Haas has been a curator at the MFA since 2001, where she focuses on American photography. She received her BA in Art History from Connecticut College and an MA in the History of Photography from Boston University. Prior to working at the MFA, she held curatorial positions at several museums and private collections, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Boston University Art Gallery, and the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover. Jenny Jones, Jamaica Plain Coordinator for Garden Stewardship, Southwest Corridor Park Conservancy (SWCPC), Jamaica Plain Resident Jones is originally from England and was an IT professional for 40 years. She volunteers with the Southwest Corridor Park Conservancy (SWCPC) and coordinates the volunteers and garden stewards for Jamaica Plain. She paints murals in the Park, does liturgical art and environment projects for her church, organizes her Jamaica Plain neighborhood with block parties and street wide yard sales, and has been known to do very elaborate lanterns for the Lantern Parade around Jamaica Pond. Constanza Robles, Development Consultant, Urbano Project, Inc. in Jamaica Plain Robles came to Boston to pursue her doctorate in the History of Art and Architecture at Boston University. She is currently working on her dissertation about Latin American art and how it is portrayed in world fairs. Robles also collaborates with Urbano Project in grant writing and fundraising. Robles earned an MA in Theory and Art History at Universidad de Chile, a BA in Hispanic Literature and Linguistics and a BA in Aesthetics at Universidad Católica de Chile. Before moving to the US, she was adjunct professor in the Aesthetics Department at Universidad Católica. |
Rainbow Swag, 2021
by Sharif Muhammad Sharif Muhammad believes that Jamaica Plain is a community where individuals are celebrated for being unapologetically themselves. Rainbow Swag encourages them to pop their colorful collars and look unacceptance squarely in the eye with confidence, pride, and hope. He intends this piece to send a clear message to anyone entering the neighborhood: whether you are black, brown or white, queer or straight, female, male or non-binary, your beauty and brilliance are seen and celebrated. He hopes that young people, including his own children—and especially those who struggle to find confidence or acceptance in some part of their identity—will walk by this mural on those hard days and internalize his message. Muhammad’s artistic purpose is to represent, empower, uplift, glorify, and convey the emotions of black and brown people living in America. He uses art as an instrument to unpack the spectrum of feelings derived from black and brown experiences. He believes that without the help of artistic expression, feelings of descendants of the African diaspora are often flattened, downplayed, archetyped, or simply limited by verbal or literal expression. Putting the full black and brown experience on display serves as a reminder that they are multidimensional, brilliant, invaluable human beings. It is the emotional argument to dismantle all forms of racism. About the Artist: Sharif Muhammad holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from UMass Amherst and a M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Bridgewater State University. He has taught at Boston Day & Evening Academy since 2002. 2021 was a breakout year for Muhammad. In addition to being chosen for this mural project, and other juried shows and exhibits around Boston, he was featured in the Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and on the cover of Art New England magazine. Muhammad also received the Boston Celtics’ 2021 Heroes Among Us Award, and in January of 2022 he was featured on WCVB-TV’s Chronicle. With a primary focus on digital art, Muhammad's artistic purpose is to represent, empower, uplift, glorify, and give voice to black and brown people. He uses his art to unpack the spectrum of complex feelings derived from the history and experiences of people of color. www.sharifmuhammad.com Instagram @sharif_the_artist 
A Message to the Future, 2021
by Julia Csekö, in collaboration with Eddie Maisonet This mural is a special collaboration between Julia Csekö and Eddie Maisonet, in which Csekö painted the texts sourced by or written by Maisonet. These three panels honor Jamaica Plain local community leaders—featuring them as role models for younger generations and bringing visibility to their invaluable work. Csekö and Maisonet hope to inspire future generations to engage in the continuous fight for human rights and social justice. These panels speak of memory, community leadership, and social engagement. The first panel features an homage to Julia Martin, an elder Jamaica Plain community organizer. Maisonet began a dialogue with Martin in order to quote her in this panel. Martin learned community activism first-hand in the 1960s with other “Mothers for Action” who took on causes from stopping Interstate I-95 construction from cutting through neighborhoods to fighting addiction. Today her name graces the Julia Martin House, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation’s building in Jackson Square, where low-income seniors live independently in a loving, supportive environment.[1] The second panel features original text by Maisonet. Showing his care for and knowledge about Jamaica Plain, Maisonet’s panel vows to give continuity to Martin’s legacy. The third panel features Jamaica Plain local Ernesto "Eroc" Arroyo-Montano’s words, also sourced by Maisonet. Arroyo-Montano is an educator, artist, facilitator, organizer, youth worker, community activist, and a proud father of three. Known for his leadership in a range of initiatives from youth program development and intersectional movements building, he has shown his dedication to racial, gender, economic and environmental justice.[2] [1]. https://jpndc.org/jp-and-julia-martin/ [2]. https://www.faireconomy.org/eroc_arroyo_montano About the Artists: Julia Csekö was born in Colorado and grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 2010, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts to pursue an MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. In 2022 she was the recipient of a Create the Vote MassCreative Fellowship, a Somerville Arts Council Project Grant, and the Somerville Museum Community Curator grant. In 2021, Csekö was an Artist in Residence at the Umbrella Center for the Arts, and received a Somerville Arts Council Fellowship. She was also an Emerson College 2020 Visiting Artist. Her work gravitates around conversations and experiments grounded on a paradigm shift from competitive to collaborative mindset in social actions and interactions. www.juliacseko.com Instagram @csekojulia With his roots lovingly planted in Jamaica Plain, Eddie Maisonet was born and grew up in Boston. He holds a BA in Psychology from Smith College and was awarded an artist residency with The Theater Offensive in 2017 and 2019. His 2019 collaborative project, Narratives of Home, is a response to the question of the unique ways gentrification impacts our communities. Maisonet has forged important relationships with community builders who continue to organize and care for its members. www.eddiemaisonet.net Instagram @eddiemstoryteller |
