HISTORICAL AND COMMUNITY MURALS

A blank building wall is the muralist's ideal canvas, rich with potential for creating site-specific art in a real world setting. Murals are ideally suited for telling stories filled with meaning for the local community. Local history is an important part of the common story.

When I am commissioned to create a historical mural, the design process starts by working closely with the community to learn about local history, culture and traditions. Information is shared at public meetings, using questionnaires and taking oral histories. The local historical museum and archives provide valuable source material.

During the design phase, the design is reviewed by the community at all phases of design development, allowing the community to participate in the evolution of the concept and details of the work.

During the on-site painting phase, visitors to the site share their stories, photographs and memorabilia which are woven into the painting.

This selection of work shows some of the historical murals I have created in many different types of settings in cities across the United States.

For commissions, competitions, and teaching information, please address inquiries to:

Joshua Winer/Mural Arts
Boston, Massachusetts
Telephone: 617.930.6010
Email: jw@joshuawiner.com

 

 

 

 


 

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The City of Wayne, Michigan commissioned this mural as an inaugural public art project for their ‘Cool Cities Initiative’. Joshua Winer and David Fichter collaboratively created this mural on the east wall of the State Wayne Theater, an Art-Deco landmark. The mural celebrates local history and achieves the goal of drawing the public back into the downtown.


The Wayne History Mural. Wayne, MI. 27' high x 150' long.
Commissioned by the city of Wayne, Michigan with David Fichter.



 

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The Davenport Street Mural recreates the 19th century streetscape of the previously existing North Cambridge neighborhood that was torn down during the development of the Porter Square Shopping Mall. I was selected by a neighborhood citizen’s group through a Public Design Selection process to create this architectural mural. Neighbors are shown as historic personages.


The Davenport Street Mural. Cambridge, MA. 20' high x 250' long.
Commissioned by the Cambridge Arts Council and Gravestar, Inc.



 

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This was the first in a series of public art murals commemorating the history of Alston and Brighton. Brooks Street Underpass features full sized painted scenes of a Richardsonian Train Depot and a Native American encampment. Created on cutout MDO panels, the murals move through two underpasses, providing a visual experience for pedestrians and motorists and connecting the neighborhood to the Charles River. The design was created in collaboration with Artist Ross Miller.


The Brighton History Murals: Brooks Street Underpass. Brighton, MA.
Commissioned by Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation.



 

 

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The Transcendentalist Philosophical Movement was a wellspring of 19th century thought and literature, conceived in Concord by the noted philosophers and authors Henry Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller. This mural returns to the year 1857, when this illustrious group was gathered together in the Concord Town Common, enjoying the shade of wide elm.


The Transcendentalists Mural. Concord, MA. 6' high x 20' long. Commissioned by David Segal.



 

 

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The famous Kennedy dynasty of 20th century American politics spent its early years in a suburban home in the neighborhoods of Brookline MA. This mural sits on a wall two blocks from the Kennedy home. The mural depicts the desk of the family matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The giant items on Rose’s desk create a symbolic narrative of the family’s ancestry and formative years in Brookline.


Kennedy Family Mural. Brookline, MA. 15' high x 25' wide.
Commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Crossing Neighborhood Association.



 

 

 

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Downtown parades were an important tradition in American cities during the 1950’s. Citizens lined the streets, while public servants marched alongside beauty queens in streamlined convertibles and the high school band played John Phillips Sousa. This mural is a tribute to that period. It is one in a series of murals in Downtown Ottawa created for ‘The Brush With History Mural Program’.


The Ottawa Parade Mural. Ottawa, IL. 18' high x 60' long.
Commissioned by the 'Brush with History Program'.



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To celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education unveiled this new historical mural depicting three hundred years of state legal history. The courtroom architecture is based upon the magnificent Barnstable County Court House. The figure portraits show prominent New England lawyers and judges, including Daniel Webster, Louis Brandeis and Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Adjacent to this stair hall mural is another mural depicting a jury box filled with MCLE’s past Presidents.


The Legal History of Massachusetts Mural. Boston, MA. 20' high x 25' wide.
Commissioned by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education.


 
   
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