Immigrant and Origin Story Mural Project

We are looking to bring this project to your community!

We are in search of project partners open to an exciting creative placemaking project that builds communities through storytelling and that spurs economic development through community activity. Our pilot project was financed through a public-private partnership. We are very open to finding the right fit for your community to bring this project to you!

CLICK HERE to contact us, or send us an email at info@alexandergolobart.com.

Pilot - Haverhill, MA

This project’s pilot was in Haverhill, MA, a post-industrial city of approximately 60,000 with rapidly changing demographics and growing pains related to those changes. Its residents come from a variety of backgrounds that arrived at different periods in history - with large Italian, English, French-Canadian, and Irish communities. Today, twenty percent of Haverhill identifies as Latino, having immigrated more recently.

The mural’s style was developed to both celebrate the cultural histories of long-time residents and elevate the current experiences of more recent immigrants.The mural was painted in a style inspired by Italian folk-art traditions that incorporated local history and showcased 46 brightly painted panels featuring 148 portraits of community members of diverse and time-periods. These portraits are framed by a border incorporating local iconography. In the mural’s center, there is a tableaux of the Haverhill city skyline incorporating community-identified landmarks.

Every step of this project was collaborative, engaging over 30 local and state nonprofits and businesses, along with several community leaders including legislators, business executives, and community activists. The project hosted youth storytelling workshops, interactive art projects, poetry performances, community listening sessions, potlucks, and a large story-gathering initiative.

The mural and associated programming have had a long term impact, enlivening the area’s sense of community, creating a representative expression of the city, and bringing economic improvements by increasing activity in the downtown and encouraging additional investment.