LYNN — Colombian artist Ivan Salazar gave residents an opportunity to be a part of the art during the Beyond Walls Street Art Festival.
More than a dozen people showed up to East Coast International Church in Lynn to help Salazar cut out stencils of portraits of “local unsung heroes” from Lynn. The portraits will be part of Salazar’s mural display, which will be installed throughout downtown during the festival, which ends Aug. 3.
“My work is community driven,” said Salazar. “Whenever I come to a new place to create art, I walk around the community and take photos and try to understand the street … “What I want is to represent the people who live here. History in real life is happening in the streets where we paint.”
Those who lent a hand to Salazar, who is skilled in photography, industrial design, and holds a passion for stencil art, were getting him one step closer to his final festival piece, he said. His process includes walking the streets and taking off-guard portraits of residents, using his computer to add an industrial design touch, stenciling out the large printouts of the portraits, and then using those to help paint the portraits on the Spring Street wall he will be working on.
“When the festival is done, people from the community can look at these murals forever and be able to say ‘that’s me’ or ‘I helped with that,'” said Salazar.
