Susan Berstler
Susan Berstler is an artist and curator who has been developing innovative creative projects and spaces in Somerville for over 20 years. Susan founded the nonprofit Nave Gallery, which showcases local, national and international art in a variety of media and themes through a guest curatorial program. She created Project MUM, Squeezebox Slam Accordion Festival, Phone Art Box Project, and is contributing to the development of ArtFarm.
She has partnered with other arts organizations including Washington Street Arts, Brickbottom Gallery, The Somerville Museum, The Photographic Resource Center, and the Griffin Museum to produce the annual international Somerville Toy Camera Festival.
Informed by a rich history of painting and contemporary artmaking processes, my work also calls on poetry, science, and nature. Using thoughtful and delicately painted moments, I make paintings, drawings, and mixed-media, wall-mounted installations about the shifting climate that is unpredictable, yet captivating and beautiful. Beauty is a key ingredient in my toolbox, and I blend it with my reverence for, and humanity’s conflict with, the natural world and the mysteries of the universe, to compose evocative, experiential work that is both contrary and compelling. This is highlighted through my use of materials made of the earth, such as moss, gold leaf, ink, and oil paints, and human-made materials, such as plastics, and acrylics, which underscore our human contradictions and vulnerabilities. These contradictions and vulnerabilities seep into our relationships with each other to create challenges, and at times disharmony, both of which are opportunities for greater consciousness. Through a lens of beauty and gratitude for our abundant natural world, my work provides a positive encounter via its meditative mark-making, color combinations, subject matter, texture, and the remarkable way in which art can subconsciously reach us to foster inspiration, compassion, and love.
Resa Blatman is a Massachusetts-based visual artist who makes paintings and 3D installation projects. Her work is held in public and private collections throughout the U.S., and she exhibits at galleries and cultural institutions nationally. Resa has an MFA from Boston University and a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art; her work is represented by Childs Gallery, Boston.
Resa Blatman
Informed by a rich history of painting and contemporary artmaking processes, my work also calls on poetry, science, and nature. Using thoughtful and delicately painted moments, I make paintings, drawings, and mixed-media, wall-mounted installations about the shifting climate that is unpredictable, yet captivating and beautiful. Beauty is a key ingredient in my toolbox, and I blend it with my reverence for, and humanity’s conflict with, the natural world and the mysteries of the universe, to compose evocative, experiential work that is both contrary and compelling.
City Bench
Ted & Zeb Esselstyn
Brothers Ted and Zeb work in unison to create works of art from fallen trees. They talk about their obsession for reclaiming wood and their process as follows: “City Bench grew out of our passion for building beautiful objects with meaning and a story. It also grew out of a reverence for the trees that line our streets, fill our public spaces, and enliven our campuses. Those trees represent our shared space and generations of common stories –they are also vital and overlooked resources…We extend the life left in those trees by building uniquely handcrafted furniture that tells their stories. Community and connection to place are built into everything we create-whether that community is a big city, a small town…Our pieces have a “birth certificate” describing the tree’s origin, significance and story. Our aim is to build a meaningful and lasting enterprise, which creates positive environmental and social change and contributes to the vitality of the communities in which we operate.”
Seana Bill
Seana Bill Custom Woodworking is owned and operated by Seana Bill, a self-taught woodworker who combines skilled woodworking with creative, elegant design. Wood is such an incredible medium to work with, it holds so much beauty and diversity on its own. Seana seeks out beautiful pieces of wood to be inspired by, whether it’s two hundred year old reclaimed structural wood or pieces milled at her shop from trees removed locally. Starting with beautiful and unique pieces of wood, she handcrafts solid wood furniture and cabinets using traditional methods. She specializes in artfully combining unique color, textures and grains to produce one of a kind pieces.
Jeff and Nina Buccacio
The allure of The Shipwright is enhanced by the bespoke bronze handles meticulously crafted by Buccacio Sculpture Services, a testament to our commitment to excellence. Sculptor and co-owner Nina Buccacio, showcased in the accompanying photo, led the design, sculpting, and finishing process, ensuring meticulous attention to detail. Our company, Buccacio Sculpture Services, is distinguished for its expertise in sculpting, foundry work, restoration projects, and more. We pride ourselves on maintaining an unwavering commitment to exceptional quality and craftsmanship.
Helen Grimm
Helen Grimm uses a visual language evolved from shells, stones, seaweed, bones, lichen, scrubby pines and water to explore the spiral nature of time and her connection to place within a constantly changing world. Honoring her emotions and blending them with careful observation, she allows energy to flow through her into her work, in order to access the infinite through each now-moment. Shifting along the continuum between representation and abstraction, Helen investigates cycles of attachment and detachment by moving paint around the canvas, building up color and texture and cutting away form. Also an herbalist and a nurse, Helen is represented by galleries in Provincetown, Long Island and Connecticut, with work in private collections around the world.
Katie Jurkiewicz
Katie Jurkiewicz is a painter and artist from New Britain, CT. She graduated from Trinity College with a BA in Studio Arts and a Minor in Italian Studies. She earned her MFA in Visual Art from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. In addition to being a working artist she has spent her professional career working for and with arts non-profits in PR, marketing, web design and graphic design.
Katie paints landscapes boldly and unapologetically. Her work is brightly colored, fluid and gestural (and generally, quite large). She paints directly on the floor in the manner of the action painters onto unprimed canvas, letting the natural texture of the fabric bleed into the painting. The work is left unstretched - a reminder that canvas is a fabric, with natural variations, edges and seams.
Award winning nautical photographer and Canon Explorer of Light, Onne van der Wal, will take you on a visual journey that most can only dream about accessing: prepare to get wet and salty, at least viscerally. For over 25 years van der Wal has surrounded himself with water and the nautical world and his imagery speaks volumes to his expertise and vast experience in this challenging environment.
Once a professional sailor, van der Wal circumnavigated the world as part of an all male team trying to be the fastest boat in the 1981-82 edition of the “Whitbread Around the World Race.” His sparse racing gear allowance didn’t leave much room for his novice camera kit – but he talked his way into bringing along the Olympus camera and lenses that the camera company had given to him to document his teams amazing voyage. When van der Wal, a native Dutchman raised in Cape Town, South Africa, and his teammates aboard the Dutch entry FLYER won the race, his unique and technically impressive photos from this epic journey were sought after. Sailing and adventure magazines flocked to van der Wal to gain access to his images and the rest is history; He hung up his sea boots and took to a life and career photographing the yachting world rather than competing in it.
Since that time, van der Wal, has honed his eye and technical skill behind the lens, carving out a name for himself and his revered work. While he prefers shooting in his home waters of Newport, Rhode Island, which is rich with sailing and nautical history, his work and clients have taken him again around the globe shooting exotic destinations – many of which can only be reached by boat. Expeditions are his favorite, and he has quite a few under his belt. He has been to the farthest reaches of the world, preferring the poles to the tropics, but his collection of over one million photographs proves that there are few places van der Wal cannot make look worthy of exploring.
Onne Van der Waal
Award winning nautical photographer and Canon Explorer of Light, Onne van der Wal, will take you on a visual journey that most can only dream about accessing: prepare to get wet and salty, at least viscerally. For over 25 years van der Wal has surrounded himself with water and the nautical world and his imagery speaks volumes to his expertise and vast experience in this challenging environment.
Wladyslaw Prosol is a Polish American artist based in New England. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Architecture and Art from the Cracow University of Technology in Poland. Before coming to the United States he used to sell landscapes and other works by the old city wall in Cracow as well as on the streets of Amsterdam.
Classically trained, he moved to the United States and shifted toward American Abstract Expressionism. This new direction launched his quest to find his own artistic identity. He works in oil, acrylic and a spectrum of experimental art. Influenced by the flow of virtual images and rapid development of digital and AI art, he explores the role of physical art within this new visual reality.
In his latest works, he seeks to find a path through a reality where visual stimuli and information flow constantly and chaotically. Imagine coming across someone’s computer screen, covered with open windows, icons, and messages. This dizzying landscape is our new normal, and becomes a challenge for the artist to navigate.
As an emerging artist he was awarded a 2021 solo exhibition – "Artwalk"– at the Hartford Public Library in Connecticut. He was a finalist in the 2021 PleinAir Salon Art Competition, won five Merit Awards at the 2022 Mellow Art Awards, participated in the 2023 Abstract Art Group Exhibition at Las Laguna Art Gallery in Laguna Beach, California, and a Group Exhibition at the 2023 Exhibizone: Grand Prize.
Wladyslaw Prosol
Wladyslaw Prosol is a Polish American artist based in New England. He graduated with a Master’s Degree in Architecture and Art from the Cracow University of Technology in Poland. Before coming to the United States he used to sell landscapes and other works by the old city wall in Cracow as well as on the streets of Amsterdam.
I was born and raised in Lynn. In the early 70’s I was inspired to pursue photography as a career after seeing an exhibit by Ansel Adams at the Worcester Art Museum. Workshops followed at NS Community College in Beverly and NE School of Photography in Boston and a one year intensive program at Franklin Institute of Boston. I photographed weddings for many years and worked in commercial photo labs, pro photo retail and as a commercial rental studio manager.
Current and future work includes fine art city, sea and landscape photography, motorcycle culture and biker lifestyle portraits and photo shoots inspired by themes such as Beauty and the Beast, Amedeo Modigliani and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
It’s so inspiring to photograph and document the work in Lynn of these talented mural artists.
Follow me on Instagram @coryphotoguy and on Facebook.
Follow @beyondwallslynn on Instagram.
Cory Despres
I was born and raised in Lynn. In the early 70’s I was inspired to pursue photography as a career after seeing an exhibit by Ansel Adams at the Worcester Art Museum. Workshops followed at NS Community College in Beverly and NE School of Photography in Boston and a one year intensive program at Franklin Institute of Boston. I photographed weddings for many years and worked in commercial photo labs, pro photo retail and as a commercial rental studio manager.
Kelvy Bird is a fine artist whose work explores the interplay of emotion and presence through abstraction. Her paintings are a meditation on form, color, and texture, evoking a sense of movement and connection. Drawing on years of experience as a creative practitioner, Kelvy’s art reflects her deep engagement with process and intuition, inviting viewers into an internal contemplative dialogue. Her pieces often serve as a visual exploration of the unseen currents shaping our shared human experience; the most recent series “Rise” explores tensions between collapse and revitalization, as the bands of bright color can seem to anchor down or ascend, depending on the orientation.
Bird’s paintings have been exhibited in the greater Boston area and are in private and corporate collections around the world. Kelvy received her BFA in painting and BA in Art History from Cornell University and currently works from her studio in Amherst, MA.
Kelvy Bird
Kelvy Bird is a fine artist whose work explores the interplay of emotion and presence through abstraction. Her paintings are a meditation on form, color, and texture, evoking a sense of movement and connection. Drawing on years of experience as a creative practitioner, Kelvy’s art reflects her deep engagement with process and intuition, inviting viewers into an internal contemplative dialogue. Her pieces often serve as a visual exploration of the unseen currents shaping our shared human experience; the most recent series “Rise” explores tensions between collapse and revitalization, as the bands of bright color can seem to anchor down or ascend, depending on the orientation.
Percy Fortini-Wright is a Boston based artist who received both his BFA and MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. While in his youth he wrote graffiti, most active during the late 1990’s, becoming a technician of wild-style graffiti letters, tags and bubble letters while simultaneously he evolved as a traditional painter of scenes, abstraction, and portraiture to his characters the Children from Beyond. In graduate school he mentored with artists Paul Rahilly, Ken Beck, Paul Goodnight, Vanessa Platacis, and Dike Blair. His inspirations range from painters like Anders Zorn to John Singer Sargent, to wild-style graffiti pieces and tags. Exhibiting within both the public and private spheres and creating large and small-scale pieces, Percy merges the worlds of classical painting and graffiti techniques boldly pushing the boundaries of his work, without being confined by stylistic stereotypes.
Percy has participated in many graffiti events including Meeting of Styles in the Bronx,NYC, Under Pressure in Montreal, Canada and Urban Basel in Basel Switzerland. His work has been selected in a juried exhibition by Jonathan LeVine at Parlor Gallery, NJ in 2013 and in 2014 a group exhibit at the Copley Society juried by Paul HA. His work has appeared in a number of art publications including New York Times, the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Juxtapoz, ArtScope, Annie Selkie's Fresh American Style , American Art Collector and the centerfold of the Improper Bostonian magazine, PBS (Open Studios with Jared Bowens) and Nominated Bostons Best award by the Improper Bostonian in 2015. Past projects include work commissioned by Flank Steakhouse in Waltham, MA and by Adidas for the Boston Marathon which was featured in Hypebeast and Sports Illustrated.
Percy Fortini-Wright
Percy Fortini-Wright is a Boston based artist who received both his BFA and MFA from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. While in his youth he wrote graffiti, most active during the late 1990’s, becoming a technician of wild-style graffiti letters, tags and bubble letters while simultaneously he evolved as a traditional painter of scenes, abstraction, and portraiture to his characters the Children from Beyond. In graduate school he mentored with artists Paul Rahilly, Ken Beck, Paul Goodnight, Vanessa Platacis, and Dike Blair. His inspirations range from painters like Anders Zorn to John Singer Sargent, to wild-style graffiti pieces and tags. Exhibiting within both the public and private spheres and creating large and small-scale pieces, Percy merges the worlds of classical painting and graffiti techniques boldly pushing the boundaries of his work, without being confined by stylistic stereotypes.
Founded in 2016 as a volunteer-driven, grassroots initiative by Executive Director Al Wilson, Beyond Walls was created in response to a third-party Downtown Action Strategy calling for increased public art and improved walkability in the community. Inspired by similar projects in Brooklyn, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Kings Cross, London, Wilson recognized the potential for placemaking projects in Lynn, a city with a rich history, impressive architecture, and a thriving arts and cultural district.
The mission of Beyond Walls is to activate public spaces to strengthen communities. We believe that all communities have the right to vibrant, active, and safe public spaces. Thriving public places strengthen neighborhoods and foster a sense of belonging in our cities. Art-filled, well-lit, and walkable urban environments play an essential role in promoting economic growth, safety, and vitality.
By bringing diverse groups together, supporting local economies, and fostering community pride, our projects help create more vibrant and equitable spaces for all. To date, we’ve completed over 200 murals across 15 cities, transforming public spaces and amplifying the stories of the people who call them home.
Beyond Walls
Founded in 2016 as a volunteer-driven, grassroots initiative by Executive Director Al Wilson, Beyond Walls was created in response to a third-party Downtown Action Strategy calling for increased public art and improved walkability in the community. Inspired by similar projects in Brooklyn, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Kings Cross, London, Wilson recognized the potential for placemaking projects in Lynn, a city with a rich history, impressive architecture, and a thriving arts and cultural district.
