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The street art and graffiti scene here in Boston has historically been male dominated. But as public art becomes more widespread, organizations are working hard to highlight female artists. Al Wilson, founder and executive director of the Beyond Walls festival in Lynn tells Exhale, “Because the genre skews so male, we really wanted to have a 50/50 split on our artist ration.”
Here are four places where you can check out spectacular work by female street artists, right here in the Boston area. Don’t forget to snap an Instagram!
IMAGINE’s Graffiti Sanskrit Wall
Photo by Adam Straughn
Shrestha working on her Underground at Inkblock wall.
IMAGINE (aka Sneha Shrestha) is a Nepali artist and 2018 Boston Artist-in-Residence. She paints mindful mantras in her native language, blending the artistic styles of Sanskrit and graffiti for a completely unique aesthetic. Graffiti, a separate genre from street art, is even more hostile towards women in part because it requires the artist to be working on the street alone, often at night. By utilizing the medium, Shrestha blends the ancient and the contemporary, and appropriates male-dominated tools for her own use.
Underground at Inkblock
90 Traveler St., Boston
Juuri’s Beyond Walls Mural
Photo courtesy of Beyond Walls
Juuri stands in front of her mural at the Beyond Walls festival in Lynn.
Japanese artist Juuri’s mural for the 2018 Beyond Walls festival features a beautiful woman covered in delicate flowers in purple, peach and aqua tones. But on closer inspection you’ll see that this girl is anything but dainty. Her fists are raised in a fighting stance and she stares the viewer down as if daring them to cross her. Juuri often paints powerful women like this one in which she wanted to represent the indomitable spirit of Lynn, where the women (and men) never give up.
170 Liberty St., Lynn
999 Cranes by Silvia Lopez-Chavez
Photo by Celina Colby
Silvia Lopez-Chavez’s “999 Cranes” mural behind Ruggles Station.
Silvia Lopez-Chavez is a local favorite on the Boston public art scene for her vibrant murals and her art education programs. “999 Cranes” bridges Ruggles Station with Northeastern University’s campus. Fitting with the transportation theme, it features elements of movement like arrows and targets. The title references a Japanese story that says once you have made 1,000 cranes you will find the secret to happiness. With its bright, happy colors and positive message of moving towards a better life, this mural might just be your 1,000th crane.
Ruggles Station
1150 Tremont St., Roxbury
La Ciega Que No Juzga by Angie Gonzalez
Photo by Celina Colby
“La Ciega Que No Juzga” by Angie Gonzalez at the Punto Urban Art Museum in Salem.
Over the past three years. the North Shore Community Development Coalition has been working to create the Punto Urban Art Museum, a collection of over 50 murals by local and international artists in the low-income neighborhood of The Point in Salem. Local artist Angie Gonzalez is one of many female artists represented. Her mural “La Ciega Que No Juzga (The Blind That Does Not Judge)” features a woman with a bindi and a kerchief with Chinese characters covering her mouth. She’s painted on a bed of flags representing the intersectionality and multiculturalism that will set women free.
Punto Urban Art Museum
91 Peabody St., Salem
