Division Street Neighborway, Chelsea
Chelsea, MA
TYPE:
Art Alleys + Activated Pathways, Artistic Thermoplastic
INSTALLED: 2019, 2021, 2022
2019: Activate & beautify upper block of Division Street
ARTISTS: Liz LaManche (Design Lead);
Sury Chavez; Alex Cook; Sinai Galicia; Max Pro; Nelson Saldaña; Seniors of Chelsea Senior Center
FUNDING: City of Chelsea, AARP
2021: Creative Roadway Treatment for Mobility and Activation along Division Street and Winnisimmet Street
ARTISTS: Liz LaManche (Design Lead);
Sury Chavez; Max Pro; Nicole Kilgore; Amber Torres; Karla Collins; Sirens Crew; Nelson Saldana
FUNDING: Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Shared Streets and Spaces Initiative
2022: Extension of Tu Casa mural to side wall
ARTIST: Liz LaManche
FUNDING: City of Chelsea
Alley entrance at Hawthorne St, 2019
Alley entrance at Hawthorne St, 2022. Photo: City of Chelsea
Mural by Sury Chavez
Division Street in Chelsea is a one-way alley that connects the harborside and dense residential with a busy, largely Hispanic downtown shopping and restaurant district. The city’s priority was to slow car traffic, increase pedestrian safety, and create a more pleasant walking path for residents, increasing the appeal of shopping and restaurants near Broadway and Bellingham Square.
2019: As part of the activation of the Division Street alleyway, the sidewalks were reconstructed and made wider, with taller curbs, confining traffic to a narrower lane. Areas of the abutting buildings were identified for murals, including wood panels covering the windows of one long industrial building. Two large walls facing the Hawthorne Street entrance received colorful murals, and a fence hiding a necessary dumpster was given a colorful facelift using plastic strips.
Improvements advanced the corridor as a “Neighborway,” a low stress, low-speed, multi-modal passageway and arts corridor connecting the downtown to residential areas. Roadway reconstruction, better lighting and a series of murals beautified the Neighborway. In 2021 creative thermoplastic crosswalks and asphalt art were added, extending the 5-block corridor to include shared use of the roadway on Winnisimmet Street in Chelsea Square.
Our Process: 2019
The Design:
Neighborhood suggestions and feedback were collected by tabling at local festivals and events, and local artists were identified as collaborators. The loose theme decided on was food, in honor of the restaurant district and locals’ pride in their several distinctive cuisines. The AARP put us in touch with Senior Center artists who were able to paint a collection of wood panels for us.
A Community Paint Day was the opportunity for many people to come together and help paint panels, and the large wall on the back of Tu Casa Restaurant facing Hawthorne Street.
We identified and hired Local artists to create murals, on several other walls, which were completed before and during the community party. A festive ribbon cutting gave everyone a chance to celebrate the transformation of the alley.
“Ride a Skateboard to Work”, or the “Electric Chicken”
The 30-foot wall facing north at the entrance to Division Street was available to be painted. We presented neighborhood residents with a number of choices, and this bold chicken design won the most votes. While the city had some hesitancy to do such a whimsical design, it has been beloved by the neighborhood and turned into somewhat of a local landmark, even being pictured on one city Annual Report.
Our Process: 2021
The Design:
Neighborways collected input from local residents and stakeholders on aesthetics, themes, and what they wanted to represent about their neighborhood. One salient quality was the way Chelsea residents value a family neighborhood where people are willing to help each other.
From this came the theme of bees and hexagonal honeycomb geometry, representing “working together to create a sweet home.” The hexagonal grid formed a unifying theme that artists were able to use and deviate from as needed. Local artists were hired to create asphalt art, including some of the mural artists from 2019 and 2020 who extended their pieces to form points of interest on the street as well.
Crosswalks & Thermoplastic Art:
Three artistic crosswalks were added to join the Division Street path together as a safer pedestrian way, done as long-wearing thermoplastic in bright colors. (This is the material usually used for long-wearing crosswalks and bike lanes.)
The top of Division Street near Bellingham Square, and the entire block of Winnisimmet Street at Chelsea Square, also received creative thermoplastic installations. This added to the placemaking value of the project by creating spaces that could easily be used for city-planned block parties and other pedestrian events, as well as creating interest and encouraging pedestrian use of the route.
We believe this is the first large-scale thermoplastic art in New England, and have been pleased with its color and durability.
To add interest, the colors subtly shifted along the pathway. Near Bellingham Square, where Broadway boasts a collection of Hispanic restaurants and businesses, the colors are tropical and bright. They gradually morph to more naturalistic blues, greens, and brick red on the Chelsea Square block, which is home to historic brick buildings and a park. Following the walking path provides a gradual progression enhancing the sense of place.
In 2022, the city asked Liz LaManche to extend the mural from the Tu Casa rear facade onto the newly stuccoed north side of the building. That side faces Bellingham Square and also a parking lot, and is often only visible above the parked cars.
Extending the whimsical tropical landscape, complete with empanada moon to complement the citrus sun on the Division Street wall, provided continuity and color while being simple enough to read well behind the visual clutter of the parking lot.
