We are the light

Location: On Washington St at 119 Windsor St. Cambridge, MA

Partners: New England Foundation for The Arts, Cambridge Dept. of Human Services Programs

Lead Artist: Jack O’Hearn

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For this mural, teens met with a group of neighbors to discuss possible content for the mural. They then formed small teams of 2 to propose ideas to the larger group. After an exchange of ideas between the teens and the lead artist, a design was finalized and presented to the neighborhood group. The teens and neighbors wanted the mural to look like it belonged in the neighborhood while standing out as unique. They decided on using text as the main subject, and chose the phrase “We are the light,” which honors the memory of a late teen who had attended CAC. 

 

While the background for this mural was painted directly on the wall, the foreground imagery was painted in our studio on a material called polytab, which was then glued to the wall and sealed. 

 

This project was supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' Public Art for Spatial Justice program, with funding from the Barr Foundation and the Fund for the Arts at NEFA.