“The Souls Journey as A Series of Weird Old Cars” street mural by Liz LaManche.

By Manna Parker

The intersection of Pearl and Medford Streets is adorned by colorful stairs. Rainbow tread marks lead to the steps where three old cars are painted in bright colors by local artist Liz LaManche.

The name of the mural written below the steps, The Soul’s Journey As A Series of Weird Old Cars memorializes the late Al Riskalla.

On a blustery autumn day in mid-November, Al’s friends, family, and customers gathered to commemorate the third anniversary of Riskalla’s death from cancer. After a long career as a mechanic at the ABJ Auto Repair Shop, Riskalla is remembered fondly by many. “He kept me on the road for twenty-five years,” said long-time customer Chip Piatti, describing Riskalla as always giving him the best options that would fit his budget.

“My dad’s favorite things were learning how things worked and fixing them, and interacting with people. It’s no surprise that he was always so content running his repair shop where he was constantly doing all of those things,” said Riskalla’s daughter MiMi O’ Shea.

MiMi O’ Shea. and her sons with mural artist Liz LaManche.

The cars in the mural – an “old sky-blue Beetle, a mustard-yellow Vanagon, and at the top is a red 1960s Saab 96 on blue sky and clouds,” according to Liz LaManche’s press release – signifies the old cars he used to work on for local car enthusiasts. He also provided affordable car maintenance to MIT students, artists, and others in the community.

“As a young woman new to Boston over 20 years ago, the chance of getting swindled was real. Coming here was like taking your car to your grandfather. Trustworthy and honest, a safe space,” said LaManche in a speech during the memorial service.

Neighbor and customer Elizabeth Stone recalled a time when her twin brother pushed his engine into the shop on a hand cart because he didn’t have the correct tool at home. This exemplifies many of the car enthusiasts who came to his shop for help.

Riskalla also trained local and international mechanics who took the knowledge they learned in his shop and opened up their own garages, according to Piatti.

“I believe in the butterfly effect,” LaManche explained. The butterfly effect, which was formally used in weather prediction and later became a metaphor for many things in life, is when small things create big waves. “That’s what Al did on the small scale. Something small like that can change the world,” said LaManche.

Riskalla’s former employee Jim Baravecchio explained, “Everything I learned there I use now.” He explained that Riskalla would also not charge to drive people to work when they were having their car fixed. This gave Baravecchio the opportunity to meet people from many places. “I worked a lot of long days here but I never really minded it,” he said.

O’ Shea  spoke about her father’s role for her family as well saying, “He always found the special qualities and beauty in things and people. Although his philosophy seems so basic and rudimentary like those old cars, it seemed to translate to something higher – that enlightenment we all see to aspire to, a harder journey than we expect, yet an enjoyable and deeply rewarding one all the same.”

Signature at the bottom left of the mural