Common Wealth Murals

Common Wealth Murals (CWM) is dedicated to making the world more beautiful, visually diverse, equitable, and inclusive through the creation of public art that is by, for, and of the communities who will be most impacted by the art. Common Wealth Murals has facilitated the creation of over 50 murals in Springfield, and 10 in other MA towns. Over half created using a community-engaged process which involved several thousand people in the design and painting of the murals. CWM also produces Springfield’s annual graffiti jams, window installations, bike kiosk installations highlighting WMass artists and makers, 2 series of Chalk for Change sidewalk art installations, and other temporary public art installations. CWM is also the co-founder and co-facilitator of the Community Mural Institute (CMI), an intensive training for artists and emerging muralists to learn techniques for community-engaged mural creation. The CMI includes training, networking with established muralists, and hands-on experience creating beautiful community-engaged murals. The CMI builds a community’s capacity to engage the public in public art. To date, the CMI has trained more than 40 artists, of whom 60% are BIPOC and 60% are women. In just a few years, CWM has established itself as the leading public visual art organization in MA. We have built a trusted reputation of supporting and promoting BIPOC and women artists, and creating large-scale permanent works of public art that reflect the current and future demographics of the neighborhoods surrounding the art. CWM is also proud to have created a growing expectation among Springfield residents, building owners, nonprofits, and funders that the public should be centered in the creation of public art.