LYNN — No Hate in Lynn, a group that formed after multiple incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism in the city, is calling on local artists to help bring the community back together.
The group was formed back in August, after a discussion hosted by Seth Albaum, a Lynn resident who is also the editor of Lynn Happens and the director of Lynn Community Television. Neighbors, community leaders and city officials joined the discussion to brainstorm the best ways to respond to nearly 10 instances of racist graffiti and vandalism in the past year.
One idea was to draw up an icon or symbol to display publicly that shows the community will not tolerate any more hatred. That is where the push for the No Hate in Lynn design contest came in, said Albaum.
“We figured it’s good to have local artists come up with a design, and it should be an acronym based on Lynn,” said Albaum. “We are leaving it open but one of the ideas is something like ‘love your neighbor now’ or ‘love your neighbor no matter what.'”
A major reason Albaum and his fellow committee members, Coco Alinsug, Adriana Paz, Peter Cipriano and Carla Scheri, thought of the artist contest was because one of the incidents of hate vandalism happened to a mural created by a local artist, he said.
The committee will go through submissions, which have to be in by October 8, and decide on the best one to be displayed throughout the city, he said. He wants the chosen logo to be on lawn signs, stickers, and in storefront windows. Albaum said he has also reached out to school committee members because he wants the universal symbol to be displayed in the schools.
In the contest guidelines, Albaum said he and his fellow committee members are calling for universal symbols that are expandable for any language, or ones that could easily be translated into any language. He wants the symbol to illustrate that Lynn is a welcoming city and hate vandalism is not welcome there, he said.
“We (residents of Lynn) are accepting and we have always been an immigrant city,” Albaum said. “I think businesses can display this proudly. I’ve had a few already say they’d love one for their window.”
There are other long-term ideas in play from the group, which now has its own Facebook page, but the sign contest is a quick turn-around and a way to get the word out, said Albaum.
“I can’t wait to see what people come up with,” he said. “The Downtown Lynn Neighborhood Association has some money on reserve for printing costs, but we wanted to have something to show people when we ask for help with printing. At this point, I’m more worried about getting an ample design submission than I am about funding.”
Artists interested in submitting a design can do so by checking the No Hate in Lynn Facebook page and finding the link.
