Building at the corner of 131 Main Street [Bravo by the Sea (formerly Larsen’s)]
view from Hancock Street between Main Street and Rogers St (formerly Topside corner) and back up to City Hall
ARTIST | EMILY GRACE





work underway –

My View of Life on the Dock
Building at the corner of 131 Main Street [Bravo by the Sea (formerly Larsen’s)]
view from Hancock Street between Main Street and Rogers St (formerly Topside corner) and back up to City Hall
ARTIST | EMILY GRACE
work underway –
August 2021 – Splash! Enjoy photographs of Grimdrops jazzy hometown portrait off the Elm Street side of Action, Inc. **new** Harbor Village apartment building in downtown Gloucester, Massachusetts. The large scale commission heralds Gloucester’s upcoming 400th celebration in 2023. The artist was born and raised in East Gloucester.
Artist: Grimdrops [Mike Grimaldi], mural artist residing and working in Salem was born and raised in Gloucester, MA.
Hopefully NSCDSC will consider commissioning an extra add on for Grimdrops so the artist can extend his characterful water motif ideas straight to the top (and maybe add a gal for history! His vibrant notes brought Virginia Lee Burton Mike Mulligan Mary Ann and folly cove pattern references readily to mind). Come winter the mural might be visible from Chestnut Street. Bonus: if it’s topped off it will be visible year round from that vantage.
Grimdrops mural is on the map! Gloucester murals | Public art Gloucester, Massachusetts.
grimdrops.com
Harbor Village: a new apartment building developed by Action Inc. and North Shore Community Development Coalition building on 206 Main Street at Elm. This is the second of a few public art commissions for this property via the developers’ ancillary non profit, PUNTA .
Visit – https://gloucesterma400.org/
Congratulations to the artist and Action Inc and all involved!
photos (right click for captions; pinch and zoom or select “full size” to enlarge): c. ryan 6/9/2021
Gloucester Mural Map |
JEKS Mural commissioned for Harbor Village apartment building, 2021, NorthShoreCDC development, founder Punto Urban Art Museum.
Views four days on – from Rose Baker (forgot this one in this morning’s post)
Gloucester Mural Map |
JEKS Mural commissioned for Harbor Village apartment building, 2021
Views four days on – from Main, Rogers, and Chestnut Streets; Walgreens lot; Rose Baker and Gorton’s; with City Hall Tower and industry.
Gloucester Mural Map |
Harbor Village, Gloucester, Massachusetts, first public art mural going up now! Can you guess the artist?
| After (still to come!)
For Day 2 update, see here
For more BEFORE pictures, see my prior post here
Voting is on for the mural space on Elm Street. See Joey’s post here to VOTE for the 2nd exterior mural (Elm Street)
Here is a selection of some of the exterior public art murals in Gloucester. Depending upon your device, double click or pinch and zoom to enlarge and/or right click to see the credit details. On mine there is an option to select “view full size”. Indoor murals include masterworks from Gloucester’s public art collection (for example see its major WPA-era New Deal murals).
Calling all Gloucester, Cape Ann, North Shore and New England area artists! One monumental exterior wall and two interior sites are available for commission submission in downtown Gloucester on the new apartment building, Harbor Village. The exterior mural $5500 (fee & materials. Lift will be supplied.) Two mural opportunities (10 x 10; 10 x 15) inside are $2000 each (fee & materials).
“North Shore Community Development Coalition (NSCDC) and Action Inc. have partnered together to bring new art into downtown Gloucester through the Punto Urban Art Museum (PUAM)…The goal for this call is to provide opportunities for local/regional artists to bring life and color into downtown of Gloucester. Selected Artists/teams will be a part of efforts in celebrating the 400th anniversary of Gloucester!”
Submission Deadline Sunday May 2, 2021- midnight; project completion target end of summer 2021.
Harbor Village: a new mixed income apartment building developed by Action Inc. and North Shore Community Development Coalition on 206 Main Street at Elm (formerly Cameron’s) now under construction.
Harbor Village website HERE.
Not here
Exterior mural could be visible from the next blocks: oblique angle view back to mural wall on Elm Street from Pleasant Street (between Cape Ann Museum and Jane Deering Gallery)
and strip at top visible from Chestnut
Action, Inc. continues a tradition of supporting the arts with these new commissions. The organization has a history of collaboration with community arts partners, commissioning original public art for its buildings, and preserving any historic assets (buildings and art).
Here is a selection of some of the exterior public art murals in Gloucester. Depending upon your device, double click or pinch and zoom to enlarge and/or right click to see the credit details. On mine there is an option to select “view full size”. Indoor murals include masterworks from Gloucester’s public art collection (for example see its major WPA-era New Deal murals).
Artist experience runs the gamut: outsider and novice artists; community collaborations (with established artists helping youth); and solo endeavors (from trained professionals whether emerging or midcareer, established and revered).
Nowadays Supreme Roast Beef
1930s | 2012 | 2021
photo credit: Catherine Ryan
Potential walls in Gloucester abound. At the back of Cape Ann Museum on Elm Street across from the new Harbor Village. One day O’Maley (see prior post here)
Jason Burroughs Goetemann Artist Residency 2019 – Gloucester Invitational Artist month of May opening talk May 6th
Whether as sculptor, painter, muralist, mixed media or assemblage fine artist, Gloucester-born Jason Burroughs works across media with a signature touch. Can’t wait to see what happens from this residency. Follow him on Instagram- he’s been doing a weekly sketch on his instagram page @jazzyjburroughs
Ever since I saw his inventive stepped paintings pre 2017, I wonder what would Jason do here-
2017 – inventive sculpture paintings stepped away from flat and vertical surfaces
or just about anywhere! I’ve written about the monumental walls at O’Maley ideal for professionally trained artists that are former Gloucester O’Maley grads–like Jason– at the start of their careers. Murals are common public art attractions. To date I have not seen one mural initiative with that focus. Clandenstine street art and graffiti art can break through. (Some practitioners are diametrically opposed to that commercial conceit.) Elite global street artists and muralists command hundreds of thousands of dollars through private and corporate sponsorships. Commissions this scale for young artists with degrees begin at $16,000. That’s a great our town endeavor/grant investment.
Read about the Parsons Street murals (wall) here.
Established in 2015, this one month residency is offered by committee invitation to an inspiring and highly deserving Gloucester artist. It is understood that artistic inspiration can be difficult to attain when work and family take precedence. The artist is provided with a live-work studio for one month. Read more here about Goetemann juried and invitational artist residencies
The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck is open Thursday-Sunday. Seasonal Hours are: June through August 12-6pm, September through May 12-4pm.
Gallery 53 at Rocky Neck, 53 Rocky Neck Avenue is open seasonally May – October, seven days a week, 11am-6pm, Thurs-Sat until 8pm.
Visit www.rockyneckartcolony.org for more information.
Thanks to Mayor Romeo-Theken, city officials & departments and staff, residents, volunteers, archives and generous grant awards & donations, — Gloucester’s extant historic mural collection has begun a new chapter and is beginning to receive most fitting care at the illustrious Williamstown Art Conservation Center!
Located on the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute campus, The Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) is a non-profit institution that was established as the regional conservation center for New England by the US government back in 1977.
The summer 2017 issue of Art Conservator, WACC’s indispensable industry magazine, focused on the center’s 40th anniversary milestone and Director Tom Branchick. The back page prints the 2017 Center consortium members.
You can peruse the issue here or follow the link to explore a complete digitized repository of current and past issues. The WACC website URL is: www.williamstownart.org
Conservators at the center assessed the condition and performed necessary triage because of the invaluable support from the city’s Community Preservation Act (CPA). CPA funding and Williamstown Art Conservation Center’s stature are inspiring endorsements for broadcasting the project and compelling additional financial support. As money is raised, every mural will have its necessary care regimen completed. Donations in support of the mural care can be sent c/o the Auditor’s Office, City of Gloucester, 9 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA (note mural restoration). All murals will be displayed in Gloucester as soon as their care is completed.
Sneak peek then and now:
The former Eastern Avenue School (85 Eastern Avenue) was the site for the monumental mural, Schooldays, by Frederick L. Stoddard, from 1936. This multi-panel triptych was painted 8 feet high and nearly 60 feet long despite an array of unusual architectural challenges. My hunch for its original location on the main floor was confirmed thanks to Barbara Tarr. I’m looking for interior photos of the school that show the mural installed. Over time the school walls were resurfaced, doors blocked, and an elevator installed. Based on my expertise, I recognized that a stand alone piece was misattributed and must have been dispersed, not as bad as the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz after the flying monkeys descend-… still it was dire and will be amazing to have it whole once again! Special thanks go to Gloucester’s Department of Public Works.