In the last 5 years, the Community Mural Institute has trained over 50 artists in community engaged mural making.
Learn about past Institutes
Fresh Paint Springfield, 2022
Common Wealth Murals was honored to receive a New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Public Art for Spatial Justice grant to support the recreation of 2 AfriCOBRA murals by Nelson Stevens. The Community Mural Institute worked during the festival to recreate the two historic murals and facilitate community engagement in the process.
Fitchburg MA, 2022
Over the course of three months in 2022, the CMI worked with the City of Fitchburg, MA to train twelve local artists and put up three murals in the city. Artists worked with the North Central MA Minority Coalition, the Fitchburg Art Stewards and the Montachusett Community Branch YMCA Spartacus Teens to envision and design the murals.
Fresh Paint Springfield, 2021
The CMI came to Fresh Paint Springfield, an annual mural festival in Springfield MA. Over an intensive couple of weeks, artists were trained in community mural techniques such as Polytab installation and community paint parties. The artists each assisted a FPS2021 Muralist with their wall.
Preacher Man, Springfield MA, 2020
A mural created to honor the life and legacy of “Preacher Man” , the well known and loved Springfield icon. The CMI used the mural as a tool to train 4 local Springfield artists in the Parachute Cloth Mural Method and had a small paint party where Preacher Man’s family was invited to help us paint in the mural design.
