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Fall 2005 Departments
Exchange
Prerequisite
Extended Family
Foundation News
Alumni Connections
Class Notes
Zip 01003
Books Received
Alumni Photos
Features
Raising His Game
Never Mind the Weather?
If You Can Make it There
Peg Riley Wants a New Drug
A Capitol Guy
What They've Learned
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Class Notes
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Murals and Messages
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—Linda Smith
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Downtown Northampton mural painted by UMass graduate Alex Cook ’98. |
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WHO HASN'T DRIVEN THE NOTORIOUSLY slow Route 9 into Northampton and had the trip brightened by a colorful mural on the side of Pop’s Package Store on the east end of Main Street? A winged yellow alien, floating above a blossoming tree in front of a cityscape, is a welcome diversion from the traffic. It’s the work of artist Alex Cook ’98; he painted two other murals in Northampton, in 1997.
“I painted my first public murals during my time at UMass,” says Cook.
After graduating, he was youth project coordinator with the Institute for Violence Prevention in Athens, Georgia, where he organized many mural projects.
Alex returned to Boston in 2001 and started his own mural painting business, Stonebalance Arts. In 2004, he created a mural painting program for teenagers there. In its second summer, the Jamaica Plain Youth Mural Program employed five teen artists, creating three murals in Boston. Students work together for eight weeks, beginning with learning technical aspects, progressing through the creation of their own murals, and finally serving as peer leaders for a group mural project with teenagers from the Cape Verdean community, Unido.
“This program exists to create opportunities for young urban artists,” Cook explains. “By creating more opportunities for young artists to explore, validate, and invite their talent and vision, we cultivate a very real sense that artists can be leaders and healers in our society.”
See For Yourself: visit www.stonebalancer.com. |
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Close Encounters
Close Encounters: larger image
The Lady's Got Jazz
The Lady's Got Jazz: larger image
Murals and Messages
Murals and Messages: more images
The Funnies
The Funnies: larger image
Going Deep in China
Going Deep in China: larger image
A Rare Vintage
A Rare Vintage: larger image
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