Fresh Paint Springfield 2022

The CMI at Fresh Paint Springfield 2022 trained 10 local artists in creating community-engaged polytab murals while recreating 2 historically significant AfriCOBRA murals. The two murals were originally painted in Springfield in 1974 by Nelson Stevens but both had been destroyed within a few years. The Wall of Black Music and Tribute to Black Women were recreated by the CMI participants under the guidance of CMI co-facilitator Greta McLain of GoodSpace Murals.

Tribute to Black Women, originally painted in 1974 by Nelson Stevens, recreated in 2022 by the CMI

FPS 2022 in the Media

• Nelson Stevens turned Springfield’s Black neighborhoods into living art galleries; a new show takes us back in time

• Springfield rededicates artist Nelson Stevens’ murals of Black life from 1970s

• The late Nelson Stevens, who taught art at UMass for 3 decades, has two of his historic murals recreated, dedicated in Springfield

• Latest Springfield mural debuts at 20/20 Laundromat

• New North Citizens Council unveils new mural, highlighting perseverance in the youth of Springfield