Central Square Branch to Get New Mural

The Central Square Branch Library will soon be home to a beautiful new mural celebrating the ways libraries serve communities. Boston-based artist Silvia López Chavez has been commissioned by the Central Square Business Association/Business Improvement District in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library; Cambridge Department of Traffic, Parking & Transportation; and Cambridge Arts to begin painting on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. The new mural will replace Crossroads, a mural celebrating the diversity and cultural vibrancy of Central Square created by muralist Dan Galvez in 1986, which deteriorated overtime.

The project is part of the Central MURALS program, a collaboration between the Cambridge Arts Council and the Central Square Business Association/Business Improvement District to create new murals along the Massachusetts Avenue Corridor.

Ms. Chavez’s work is informed by her belief in the importance of making and celebrating connections on a social, political, and cultural level – connections which occur in spaces like public libraries. Her work explores the emotional narratives of joy, struggle, acceptance, and assimilation as vehicles for empowerment, growth and transformation. Chavez’s murals are renowned for their experimentation with color and form, and for their reliance on traditional methods of drawing and painting.

The design proposed by Ms. Chavez celebrates libraries and the ways in which they serve communities. Set against the backdrop of dynamic colors and motifs such as flying birds, paper planes, and open books, the Pearl Street façade features a set of hands holding the cover of an open book on which the word “Wonder” is written. The façade incorporates the words “Knowledge,” “Learn,” and “Connect,” activities which occur in the Cambridge Public Library and its branches daily.

Ms. Chavez has created murals for institutions such as Northeastern University, Salem Arts Museum and the Barr Foundation. The Central Square Branch Library is pleased to be the location of Ms. Chavez’s work.

Boston-based artist Silvia López Chavez has been commissioned by the Central Square Business Association/Business Improvement District in partnership with the Cambridge Public Library; Cambridge Department of Traffic, Parking & Transportation; and Cambridge Arts to begin painting on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019.