Beyond Walls, the award- winning, place-making and public art organization will host its annual Street Art Festival through Aug. 3, in Lynn. Over a two-week period, locally and internationally renowned artists will produce large scale murals and mixed media works of street art that will be displayed throughout the city. This year in addition to a series of exclusive events, live music and artist talks, Beyond Walls will launch PATIO, a new initiative that will transform underutilized urban spaces into three seasonal “parklets” in the Downtown Lynn Cultural District. Curbside parking spaces and larger walkways will be reimagined, featuring temporary seating, a platform for performances, and pop-up dining. Diverse programming that will take place at PATIO includes “el ROLOTON,” a friendly “battle of the downtown barbershops,” informal “Living Room” conversations with local political candidates, and sidewalk sales that support Lynn-based entrepreneurs.
All programs are free and open to the public. For more information and program schedules, please visit www.beyond-walls.org
Artists will include:
Add Fuel, Portugal
BKFoxx, USA
Bordalo II, Portugal
Celso, Puerto Rico
Fresco Exchange, Colombia x Boston
Gráfica Mestiza, Colombia
Helen Bur, UK
Lisa King, Australia
LMA, Lynn
Mademoiselle Maurice, France
Michael Aghahowa, Lynn
Smug, Australia
Based in Lynn, Massachusetts, Beyond Walls is a creative place-making organization, dedicated to activating public spaces to strengthen communities. By partnering with local organizations, municipalities, residents, and property owners, Beyond Walls helps integrate public art and curated experiences into underutilized urban environments. In 2016, Founder and CEO Al Wilson—inspired by projects in Brooklyn, New York; Philadelphia, PA; and Kings Cross, London; —saw Lynn’s rich history, architecture, and burgeoning arts and cultural district as the perfect landscape to test the creative economy. Together, with a group of local business owners, residents, and public art/place-making enthusiasts Wilson formed a robust volunteer committee and launched a grass-roots effort to implement four inaugural large scale public art initiatives in downtown Lynn, a post-industrial city located just 10 miles north of Boston. The first projects spearheaded by Beyond Walls included 600 feet of interactive LED underpass lighting, the now annual Street Art Festival, the installation of vintage neon art, and a sculpture paying homage to Lynn’s industrial past. Today, Beyond Walls is led by Wilson and supported by a full-time staff with background in arts administration, city planning, and fundraising.