Northshore Magazine

Northshore April 2016

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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50 | APRIL 2016 nshoremag.com The entire Oliver Brothers staff worked on the project from mid-June through August, and Bishop hired a number of additional artists to work on detailing. Looking back to 1997, CDC's chief program officer Rosario Ubiera-Minaya explains how, over a period of several months and un- der the guidance of youth project coordinators, the Point's young people designed and painted the murals. As a college student and neighborhood resident, Ubiera-Mi- naya served as one of those youth coordinators. A United Way grant enabled CDC to hire John Ewing, an internation- ally known muralist. "He worked with kids from the neighborhood, exposing them to art and murals from around the world," says Ubiera-Minaya. "He taught them how art can be used as a tool for sending a message." The two murals now on display are part of a series of three. The third was much smaller and port- able—it was used to explain the project. The residents involved in painting the original murals ranged in age from 5 to 19. "Discussions with them [revealed] they wanted Creating effective little vignettes that blend the old with the new is one of Bradley's many talents. culture is represented with colorful scenes of family togetherness, and on the other is a cityscape featur- ing ideas of education and employ- ment; overhead, a plane crosses from the Caribbean to the United States. The Harbor Street mural tells the story of what it means to be part of the neighborhood. "It shows everyday life in the Point...as well as iconic residents [who] brought their culture into the neighbor- hood." The third and largest mural is on Ward Street and represents the young people's aspirations for the future. In it, they are seen reaching into the sky toward sym- bols of success. The idea for all of CDC's en- deavors is to engage residents and to attract visitors. "We have big dreams for public art in the neigh- borhood," says Ubiera-Minaya, not- ing that the mural project was the first opportunity for CDC to use art as an educational tool. There are other such projects in the works. In fact, they recently completed the crosswalk project, for which Ruben Ubiera, Rosario's brother, was the muralist. A former Point reisdent, he is now a world-renowned painter—and a shining example of the power of public art. Oliver Brothers Fine Art Restoration and Conservation 117 Elliot St. Beverly 617-536-2323 oliverbrothersonline. com North Shore Community Development Coalition 102 Lafayette St. Salem 978-745-8071 northshorecdc.org CO N TAC T to show how they felt about being split between two worlds," explains Ubiera-Minaya. The small mural depicts a tree rooted into both sides of a scene—on one side, Caribbean Top to bottom, Neighborhood Scene is located at 64 Harbor Street in Salem. It is 26 feet wide and 16 feet high, comprising 14 individual panels; Mayor Driscoll and Greg Bishop; re-creating the murals in the Beverly shop

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