Off the chARTS: Community Members Share Ideas for ArtUp Lowell

Published in the Lowell Sun on May 2nd, 2023

LOWELL — Just months after ArtUp Lowell installed nine murals across four neighborhoods, Project LEARN and partners organized a community input session to hear directly from residents.

Over 60 business owners, community leaders, residents and artists attended the Feb. 16 event at the Armand P. Mercier Center to discuss what they would like to see in public art installations in the future.

Viviana Acevedo, owner of Panela restaurant, is eager to see more murals and public art in Lowell.

“As a business owner, it brings me a lot of joy and pride to know that ArtUp Lowell is helping cultivate the cultural identity of the community through art and all the unique murals,” Acevedo said.

“This event made it clear that the community is excited about the prospects of more murals,” said Nate Robertson, who works with MassDevelopment on their Transformative Development Initiative in Lowell. “Public art, especially murals, greatly improves neighborhoods’ sense of identity.”

Representatives from UMass Lowell have also expressed interest in connecting the city to their campuses through ArtUp Lowell.

“Chancellor [Julie] Chen recognizes the importance of partnering with the community on initiatives like ArtUp Lowell, said Adam Baacke, assistant vice chancellor for campus development at UMass Lowell. “While last summer’s murals were vibrant additions to our campus and downtown, the proposals to enhance the Upper Merrimack Street corridor have the potential to strengthen important connections and invite students, faculty and staff to embrace and explore the city.”

Since the fall of 2021, ArtUp Lowell has enabled muralists from Lowell and around the globe to install 10 large-scale works of art that represent the city’s culturally diverse communities and celebrate the heritage of its Afro-Caribbean, Latinx and Southeast Asian residents.

Local artist Andrew Tricoche, who painted a mural in Middlesex Community College’s Derby Park as part of the 2022 summer installations, praised the project’s impact on the city.

“As a Lowell-born artist, I applaud ArtUp for educating new artists and connecting them to real opportunities, all the while strengthening the landscape of our city,” Tricoche said.

During the input session, attendees were placed in small groups to brainstorm ideas. Many topics emerged, including messages of diversity, representation, youth voice and possible projects ranging from 3D sculptures to more large-scale murals that are visible from the highway.

“ArtUp Lowell provides much more than just economic benefits,” said City Councilor Vesna Noun. “It also provides Lowell’s residents of all cultures and backgrounds an opportunity to share their ideas, create art in public spaces and beautify their neighborhoods.”

According to Project LEARN Executive Director LZ Nunn, “The No. 1 thing we hear from students and community members is that they want to feel represented and heard in these pieces. They want to see the people who look like them and remind them of their culture reflected in the art around the city.”

At Lowell High School, arts educator Eric Allshouse led more than 70 of his students on a mural project, titled “We Are Lowell,” in which each student made their own individual piece of a larger work of art, which can now be seen on display in the high school’s main lobby.

“Project LEARN made public art easily accessible to many more people in the city of Lowell including my students at Lowell High School,” said Allshouse. “The new murals connected well to my multicultural classroom and their customs and culture, and inspired their own mural-creating process.”

Tara Hong, Project LEARN’s Program Coordinator and an alum of Lowell High and Umass Lowell, is getting to know a different side of the community through art.

“I moved to Lowell from Cambodia when I was 13,” he said. “It’s humbling to be a part of a team whose vision is to tell the stories of Lowell’s culture, history and diversity through these projects.”

Now, the ArtUp Lowell team is ready for more local community involvement.

“We’re actively seeking partners on this project,” said Nunn. “Together, we’ll help to bring our city’s creative minds together and empower our artists’ work.”

Project LEARN believes that every student should have access to a world-class education. Working hand-in-hand with the Lowell Public Schools, the organization funds innovative programs and services to inspire today’s students and equip them with the skills, knowledge and mindset they need for college, career and life

ArtUp Lowell is a community wide initiative spearheaded by Project LEARN and local partners that brings together youth, educators, artists and community organizations to create dynamic and culturally relevant art in communal spaces.