Mural artist Calo Rosa.

The City of Somerville will be getting three new murals in August and September, thanks to a mini mural festival by the City of Somerville and Somerville Arts Council. From August 21 through September 1, three internationally-renowned artists will be painting murals in the East Somerville, Union Square and Central Hill neighborhoods.

The artists lending their creativity to Somerville’s newest murals include Calo Rosa, a Salvedorean artist from Philadelphia, Imagine, a Nepali artist and Somerville resident, and Haitian artist Pascal Michel. These artists will be painting contemporary street art on local walls highlighting the diversity of their own backgrounds and the diversity of Somerville and its residents.

On Thursday, August 22, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., join the artists for a meet and greet and Q&A session at the East Branch of the Somerville Public Library, 115 Broadway. The panel will be moderated by local artist and Programming Coordinator & Production Assistant at Somerville Media Center, Dave Ortega. We will get a chance to hear from the artists about their inspiration for their work, their process, and their experience as muralists. Come mingle with the artists, other creatives, and community members.

Mural artist IMAGINE.

Sponsors and partners who are helping to make this project possible include: Somerville Open Studios, Somerville Public Library, Sherwin Williams, Construction Equipment Rentals (CER), Home Depot, and Spray Planet.

The city is especially grateful for the business and property owners who’ve worked us throughout this process and allowed us to paint murals on their walls: Reis Family properties, Highland Creole Cuisine, Black Cat Labs and Aliki Pishev Stockdale and Bruce Stockdale.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Calo Rosa: Born in San Salvador, Calo Rosa currently lives and works in Philadelphia. Coming from a family of artists who worked with diverse media, Rosa was always inspired by a young age to work creatively. He holds a degree in Fine and Visual Arts from the Centro Nacional de Artes (CENAR) and a degree in graphic design from Don Bosco University.

After becoming frustrated with the exclusivity of the San Salvador gallery scene, Rosa began to define his own street style. His colorful pieces portray the vibrant Latin American culture, and mirror the sounds, roots, and forms of the urban-tropical lifestyle.

IMAGINE: IMAGINE (aka Sneha Shrestha) is a Nepali artist who paints mindful mantras in her native language and meshes the aesthetics of Sanskrit scriptures with graffiti influences. Being the first to mesh Nepali Alphabets with American graffiti, she has shown her work in several exhibitions, commissioned works and public walls around the world including San Francisco, Bali, Istanbul, Geneva and Copenhagen. Sneha received her Masters degree from Harvard University. When not painting, Sneha works as the Arts Program Manager at the Laxmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University.

Her latest exhibition, Mindful Mandalas, is currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has also created work for clients such as Reebok, Facebook, Harvard, Montana Cans, Trip Advisor, Neiman Marcus and Red Bull.

Mural artist Pascal Michel.

Pascal Michel: Born in Haiti, artist Pascal Michel is a self-taught painter. Through his passion for his country’s history, Michel has come to specialize in painting the heroes of the Haitian Revolution. Pascal frequently portrays Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the Haitian slave revolt that resulted in the world’s first black independent nation, founded in 1804. Whether he is depicting historic figures and events or contemporary scenes, Pascal always incorporates the rich colors of his homeland. For his paintings, Michel finds inspiration through reading history, listening to music, observing the open market scenes of his home, and venturing around the rural country sides.

Michel first visited the United States during the summer of 2014, in conjunction with the Boston Public Library’s exhibit celebrating Toussaint Louverture, where Pascal’s paintings were on display through September 2014 at the BPL Mattapan Branch. Pascal was the only artist living in Haiti whose work was exhibited. More recently, the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts has inducted Pascal as one of their newest members.

With questions about the mural or related events  please contact Special Events Manager, Nina Eichner at 617-625-6600 ext. 2998 or neichner@somervillema.gov.