Asphalt becomes artwork outside Lowell City Hall

From left, artists Matthew Wolterding, of My Beautiful Mind, and Xavier Robbins, both of Lowell, work on a street mural, titled “Grow,” on Merrimack Street, outside Lowell City Hall on July 8, 2024. The street mural project, set up by the Traffic and Transportation Department, is intended to calm the flow of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, while beautifying the area. (Aaron Curtis/Lowell Sun)

LOWELL — A portion of Merrimack Street was transformed into a canvas by local artists, as vibrant murals now adorn the asphalt outside Lowell City Hall.

An eruption of bright colors in the form of wildflowers growing from green pastures composes the art project, aptly named “Grow.”

Braving the searing heat and relentless rays of sun, local artists Matthew Wolterding and Xavier Robbins recently put the final touches on the project. As they worked, Romany Meas, an owner of the nearby Nibbana Cafe, approached Wolterding, handing him a drink and a handful of longan fruit.

“What are you doing in 90-degree weather?” Meas laughs. “Your passion is hotter than the sun.”

Wolterding, founder of My Beautiful Mind, a Lowell-based arts and wellness organization, came up with the artwork’s design.

“I took some time to look at these wildflowers blooming everywhere,” Wolterding said. “I mean colors — all types of colors — in Lowell, that for some reason I had never seen before.”

In addition to creating beautiful images, Wolterding wanted to inspire observers “to grow and bloom together.” But the project’s goal extends beyond beautifying the area.

The city’s Traffic and Transportation Department proposed the asphalt artwork as a way to inspire drivers to take it slow and enjoy the sights. There are no stop signs or traffic lights in this section of roadway.

As Robbins pointed out, the idea is that the murals “organically slow drivers down because they’re not going to rush past artwork.”

“Allowing cars to slow down without any type of traffic light or stop sign is powerful,” Robbins said. “It catches people from far away, makes them slow down, makes it safer.”

The murals stretch along the sidewalk on Merrimack Street outside City Hall. The artwork can also be spotted in patches at the end of Cardinal O’Connell Parkway. Transportation Engineer Elizabeth Oltman said a study of this section of roadway found it is a high foot-traffic area, with between 80 and 100 pedestrians using one of the crosswalks per hour.

Oltman noted there has not been an increase in accidents in this section of roadway, “but the potential for it is there.”

“We thought in the short term we would do something interesting like this street art to highlight the pedestrian activity in the area and make pedestrians more visible in their crossings,” Oltman said.

She noted that street murals have been used to effectively calm traffic in other areas of the country, including Boston.

The long-term plan for the area outside City Hall will include an improved bus stop and bumped-out curbs to widen the sidewalk and reduce the amount of pavement pedestrians have to cross.

“Essentially, where all the mural is now will eventually be sidewalk, planters or bus stop amenities,” Oltman said.

The Traffic and Transportation Department turned to the Office of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to track down artists to create the street murals. Peter Crewe, the director of CASE, said the qualifying artists had to either live in Lowell or practice here.

All of the applicants submitted renderings of their designs, which were reviewed by a committee of local artists, business owners, as well as Oltman. As Crewe pointed out, there were strict rules that had to be followed, considering the murals are situated directly on the street.

Oltman said they received “a good number of applications and they were all amazing.”

“From an artist’s standpoint, I love this,” Robbins said. “It’s something I hope keeps growing in this community, because we need it. Art has so many different types of effects on people, ethnic groups, cultures in the neighborhood itself. It’s therapeutic.”

To learn more about My Beautiful Mind, visit mymindisbeautiful.org.

Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis