Students help shape Lynn’s public art
Beyond Walls’ Classroom to the Streets program pairs students and teachers from Lynn Public Schools and St. Mary’s High School with professional artists. Participants help develop mural concepts and paint the finished works, while students and teachers are scheduled to lead public tours downtown this fall, according to WGBH.
The program began in 2025 after organizers noticed strong youth interest during downtown mural walks, WGBH reported. Beyond Walls director Lisa McCarthy said creative projects can help people build resilience during difficult periods. Founder and CEO Al Wilson said the nonprofit looks for artists whose work reflects Lynn’s culture and demographics. The city now has roughly 100 public murals, leading Arts and Culture Planner Marysa Angelli to describe it as an “outdoor museum,” according to WGBH.
Projects shaped by place and experience
One program mural stands beside the MBTA’s Lynn Interim Commuter Rail Station at Ellis and Friend streets. The interim stop opened in December 2023 after the city’s main station closed in October 2022 because of structural deterioration, according to the MBTA.
Public support for Lynn’s arts growth
Public funding provides part of the broader support for Lynn’s arts activity. According to the Mass Cultural Council, the Lynn Cultural Council has a fiscal 2027 allocation of $106,700. Planning and development initiatives have also included cultural infrastructure. MassDevelopment says Lynn’s Transformative Development Initiative district has access to technical assistance and grants supporting local market development and arts and cultural infrastructure.
The station-area painting shows an abuela with a rose and a chickadee, alongside the words “Lynn Welcomes You.” Seventeen-year-old Joshua Cintron helped paint it. In an account by WHDH 7News, Cintron connected the project’s inclusive purpose to his grandfather’s and maternal grandmother’s immigration to the United States when they were young.
A separate mural created with the Demakes Family YMCA depicts a young boy holding rosary beads. Marisabel Martinez, 17, told WHDH 7News that the image represents the support faith can provide during adversity. She also said the collaboration demonstrated how group effort can turn an idea into a completed work.
Connecting mural work with education
David Winchester, a science teacher at Lynn Classical High School, uses the program to examine animal-migration themes. He told WHDH 7News that visual work gives students another way to engage with science and discover skills they might not otherwise recognize.
The newer student partnerships follow earlier Beyond Walls collaborations with local organizations. Projects involving Girls Inc. and the Demakes Family YMCA engaged young people in developing mural ideas about identity and environmental sustainability, according to Beyond Walls.
A broader downtown effort
Beyond Walls began about a decade ago as a grassroots volunteer effort focused on public safety and walkability in downtown Lynn. The group installed 16,000 square feet of LED lighting in train underpasses and 11 vintage neon artworks before formally incorporating as a nonprofit in 2019, according to its organizational history.
Its work has expanded to large-scale murals and projects in other Gateway Cities, including Haverhill, Holyoke, Fall River, Lowell and Chicopee. The organization’s placemaking work receives support from the Barr Foundation, the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative, according to WGBH.
