Murals Around Town

Strings Attached
Saxonville Mills

In the heart of Saxonville, this mural “Strings Attached” spans and enlivens the divide between Building 1 and the former Roxbury Carpet factory. I love how the corrugated surface simply looks like part ot the design. Not as easy to paint on this surface as it looks!

The artist Sorin Bica, a contemporary artist based in the Boston area, is known for his unique abstract and figurative paintings depicting people as the thread of the community. The use of intense color and expressive figures is seen throughout his work. Sorin Bica was born in Bucharest, Romania. As a self-taught artist, he began his career drawing political cartoons back in his native country. In 1988, Bica moved to the USA where he was able to fully develop his artistic passion. We are glad he is here in the States!

Visit Bica’s website

Close up of a mural on a metal corrugated surface. The image is of an oval abstract face with another smaller face on its right cheek. The faces are outlined in black with additional colors of yellow and blue.

Close up of a mural on a metal corrugated surface. The image is of oval abstract faces, looking towards each other. The faces are outlined in black with additional colors of yellow and blue.

Close up of a mural on a metal corrugated surface. The image is of an oval abstract face. The face is outlined in black with additional colors of yellow and blue, with its left side all in orangy-red.

Celebrating the Sudbury River
Sudbury River Floodgates

A short walk from Bica’s mural, you will come across these floodgate murals that face each other from across the street, as if communicating with each other.

A neighborhood group spearheaded the project to paint these floodgates in Saxonville. The call for artists was to celebrate the significance of the Sudbury River to the Saxonville area. The two artists chosen for this project decided to highlight the nature and wildlife in the area that flourishes because of the river. Mia Cross, a native of Framingham and Lena McCarthy, a native of Wayland, wrote “we have designed murals that are linked by color and repeat stylistic elements that also share our individual styles.”

Visit Mia’s website

Visit Lena’s website

Close up of a mural with a swirling shades of blue pattern behind blades of grass in various shades of green with three pink flowers.

Close up of a mural with a pinky-blue background and a swirling pattern with shades of blue on the bottom right. In the center is a heron flying. To the upper right is a dandelion with seeds blowing away.

Close up of a mural with a pinky-blue background, lines of green grasses, and two dandelions with seeds blowing away.

Close up of a mural with a black sky with white dots, lines of green grasses, white swirling lines, and pink and white flowers.

Photograph of a mural on a concrete wall with a blue background and a lighter blue dome in the center with pink and purple clouds. To the top left of the dome is a white and red moon. In the center is a woman with long wavy hair surrounded by four different song birds.

Close up of a mural of a hand and wrist with black lines coming down from it. On the hand is a gold and black bird.

Close up of a mural with a blue background and pink clouds, and a cardinal flying.

The First Sip
Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers

Describing the inception of this mural, Cross says : “I sat down with my dad at our kitchen table up the street. We opened a Post Shift Pilsner with paper in front of us, and we scribbled down marks and gestures that we imagined our mouths would be feeling after our first sip of beer.” Gotta love the organic nature of this process!

Hence, Cross’ mural tells the story of your taste buds and brain activity as you take your first sip of beer. Big splashes of color, organic shapes, and patterns flow to the right and give way to a gathering of people — to signify the sense of community that beer and the brewery brings to the neighborhood. As one who enjoys beer, people and community, this art really resonates with me.

The mural is over 300 feet — she used about 45 gallons of paint, and around 50 different colors! I love seeing the architectural-like drawing of the plan to give you an idea of the massive undertaking.

Visit Mia’s website

Photograph of a metal corrugated building in a bright blue. There is a mural with bright shapes.

Photograph of a metal corrugated building in a bright blue. There is a mural with black outlines of various people painted in a lighter blue.

Photograph of a metal corrugated building in a bright blue. There is a mural with bright shapes and black dots.

Photograph of a metal corrugated building in a bright blue. There is a mural with black outlines of people painted in a lighter blue. Above them is a bright pink circle.

Sunflower Garden
South Middlesex Opportunity Council

Melanie MacEacheron, a projects specialist for the South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) and a self-taught painter, painted these sunflowers on a SMOC building on Bishop Street. The painting complements a sunflower garden planted in front of the building that is dedicated to Moses Mohammed, a SMOC employee of thirteen years who died of cancer in 2014. What a wonderful tribute to a colleague! And, I love the integration of real and painted sunflowers.

Across the street we noticed another beautiful building by MacEacheron. On Instagram she writes: “I was commissioned to give life to a behavioral health clinic in Framingham. I hope once this pandemic is over and people can go back to in-person visits, they think of this place as where you go to feel better, not where you go to because you’re sick.”

Visit MacEacheron’s Instagram

Photograph of a brick building with a sunflower mural painted on the lower part, behind a mulched garden with sunflowers.

Photograph of a tan building with murals painted above the squat windows of green stems, various flowers, butterflies, and songbirds.

Photograph of a brick building with a sunflower mural painted on the lower part, and a painted flag with artists signature.

Photograph of a black building with a red and yellow sunflower and a purple butterfly.

BLM Mural and Lena McCarthy’s Garage Doors
Amazing Things Art Center (ATAC)

This BLM mural lives in the back parking lot of ATAC. It was created in 2020 by Victor Muñoz with the creative direction of Discovering Hidden Gems Youth Julissa Ortiz, and the Discovering Hidden Gems team. Discovering Hidden Gems received the Sudbury Foundation’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Grant to fund the project. ATAC is the lucky host!

Discovering Hidden Gems‘ mission is to help increase the quality of life of at-promise youth through recreational and educational experiences, focusing on community engagement and inclusion. Excellent!

Learn more about Discovering Hidden Gems

Close up of a mural with a purple background, a yellow, green and red fist in the upper left, and a rainbow pattern across the bottom. There is writing in both blue and black across the surface.

Close up of a mural with a pink background and hands with bracelets signing 'LOVE'.

The garage doors on the front of the Amazing Things Art Center are painted by Lena McCarthy who also painted the Sudbury River Floodgates in Saxonville.

Thanks to Lena for leaving her marks (literally) in Framingham!

Visit Lena’s website

Front Door Framingham
In the heart of downtown

Commissioned by Framingham Downtown Renaissance, Sorin Bica painted a 100-foot-wide mural on a brick wall at 16 Concord Street next to the MBTA Commuter Rail tracks. Once again, Bica’s abstract design reflects the town’s diversity, culture and sense of community. His work also makes me smile with it’s bright, cheery images.

Visit Bica’s website

Photograph of a brick wall with a mural. The mural is abstract figures in shades of white with highlights of blue, red, and yellow.

Photograph of a brick wall with a mural. The mural is abstract figures in shades of white with highlights of blue, red, and yellow. Two figures are holding stringed instruments.

Marval’s Music Mural
199 Concord Street

Born in San Tome, Venezuela, Franklin Marval is a graphic designer, muralist, sign maker, and community activist. He works as a fine artist and a commercial artist, depending on the project.

Marval started creating his signature heart designs after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 as a way to process the tragedy and to heal. “I always include hearts in my paintings, public art, and community workshops,” he explains, “with an implicit call for unity and understanding. I encourage building community, celebrating diversity, and positivity.”

Visit Franklin’s Website