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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Fresh Paint Springfield mural festival will begin this weekend with the painting of seven new murals downtown and in Mason Square, kicking off with two Paint Parties open to the community on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Mason Square Library, 765 State St., and on Sunday, Sept. 11 from noon to 2 p.m. at Gerena Elementary School, 200 Birnie Ave.

The 2022 Fresh Paint festival will run from Sept. 10 to Sept. 18. Two of the murals being painted are recreations of murals by the late Nelson Stevens, AfriCOBRA member, who directed the painting of more than 30 Springfield murals during the 1970s.

An Artist Talk open to the public will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Gasoline Alley, 250 Albany St.. This event will feature the professional muralists who are participating in Fresh Paint 2022 and provides the community an opportunity to learn from artists who travel the world and make a living with public art. A reception open to all will follow the talk.

Muralists will be working daily from Sept. 10 to Sept. 18 on the seven new murals in Metro Center, the North End, and Mason Square.

The recreation of two of Stevens’ murals will be completed by participants of the Community Mural Institute. A commemoration and mural ribbon cutting for the Stevens murals will be held on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 1 to 3 p.m., starting at 1 Montrose St. and ending at 38 Catharine St.

Locations and muralists as follows:

• Colectivo Morivivi, an all-women artistic collective from Puerto Rico, and Justin Suarez from Rochester, N.Y. will be painting at Gerena Elementary School, 200 Birnie Ave.

• Pablo Kalaka, who is Chelean by birth and Venezuelan by upbringing, will be painting at State and Sherman streets and at South End Middle School, 36 Margaret St.

• MuralesLian, originally from East Bridgewater and now living in Spain, will be painting at the New North Citizens Council Youth Center, 4 Birnie Ave.

• Artists from the Community Mural Institute, led by Greta McLain of GoodSpace Murals, will be recreating two historic murals painted in 1973 by Nelson Stevens at 1 Montrose St. and Catharine and State streets.

For more information, visit www.freshpaintspringfield.com.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Fresh Paint Springfield mural festival has been transforming 10 large exterior walls into art in Mason Square and downtown throughout the week, culminating in weekend events to celebrate the new art in the city. A block party will be held on Saturday, June 12 from 3 to 7 p.m. outside Mason Square Library, 765 State St., with food, music, and a paint party, along with mural bus tours at 3:30 and 5 p.m.

During the Saturday block party, ribbon cuttings will take place for two Mason Square murals: at 4 p.m. at the Heritage mural, 727 State St. — originally the oldest mural in Springfield, painted in 1967 by local artists Don and Paul Blanton — which has been repainted during Fresh Paint 2021; and at 4:45 p.m. at the Wall of Fame mural, 827 State St., which features portraits of 13 pioneering men and women, past and present, from Mason Square in Springfield, painted by several Western Mass. portrait artists.

State Rep. Bud Williams, Springfield Cultural Council President Andrew Cade, and a member of the Springfield City Council will attend and offer remarks at the ribbon cuttings, along with Nelson Stevens, who was a lead artist and organizer of 37 murals that were painted in Springfield in the 1970s and an early member of AfriCOBRA, an African-American artists’ collective formed in Chicago in the 1960s.

On Saturday, there will also be mural bus tours on a double-decker Peter Pan bus, leaving from the Mason Square Library, 765 State St., at 3:30 and 5 p.m. The tour will visit all the new murals that were painted during Fresh Paint 2021, along with the murals that were painted during Fresh Paint 2019. Tours will also be held on Sunday, June 13 at noon and 1:30 p.m.

This year’s festival involved members of the community in the design and painting of all 10 murals, which has resulted in opportunities for more than 1,000 Springfield residents to actively participate in the beautification of the city. Also new to the festival this year is the community mural apprentice program, which paired 10 local artists with established muralists to learn how to independently engage with the community in designing and painting large, professional murals.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Fresh Paint Springfield, the mural festival that began in 2019 in downtown Springfield and transformed large, exterior walls into art, will be returning to Springfield on June 5-13. This year’s festival will feature new murals in downtown Springfield and in Mason Square.

“The city and I are happy to continue to support our mural festival that began in 2019,” Mayor Domenic Sarno said. “Simply put, these murals bring a welcoming vibrancy and creativity to our downtown. I want to thank Fresh Paint Springfield for their continued partnership in making our community colorful and enhancing our city’s aesthetics and pedestrian experience, which all leads to people spending money by patronizing our business and cultural amenities.”

Among the murals that will be part of Fresh Paint 2021 are “Pioneers Past and Present,” which will be painted by local portrait painters in Mason Square, and the repainting of a historic mural on the Mosque 13 building on State Street.

For news and updates about this year’s festival, visit www.freshpaintspringfield.com.