Beautifying the Neighborhood: A Vibrant New Mural on the walls of Curtis Guild Elementary School

“YN Lak’Ech-Hala Ken / Yo soy tu – tú eres otro yo,”  is the name of the incredibly beautiful mural now covering the walls of the Curtis Guild Elementary School located at 195 Leyden St. in East Boston.  This amazing kaleidoscope of images, including animals, people, flowers, planets, alebrijes, or mythical spirit guides, and Indigenous iconography, was a collaborative effort between artist Israel Guerra Romero, a Mexican-based artist known as Spaik, and Street Theory -an award-winning creative agency.

The project was also a collaboration between the artist and students, parents, and residents from the neighborhood. Drawing workshops were held, and people had an opportunity to share ideas and illustrations of what they’d like to see on the mural. 

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“I used these illustrations as a source of inspiration to develop ideas that would suit their community,” said Spaik on his website about the mural. The end result is stunning! We encourage you to stop by and check it out! 

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The mural is part of the City of Boston’s “Canvas of Culture” initiative created to beautify the city, provide opportunities to artists at different levels of experience, and amplify the vibrancy of Boston’s neighborhoods and schools through engaging and inspiring public art.

Spaik is among six artists who gave Boston Public Schools buildings facelifts this summer!  In his free time, Spaik can be found tattooing at Hourglass Tattoo in Cambridge.

Pretty cool!

Did you know you can take a self-guided tour of all the beautiful murals in East Boston? You can get all the details here! 

Image via Spaik’s website.