Episode 190: The Painted Walkway

Designed to evoke emotion and to spark conversation. It embraces the community and marries both sides of the bridge gracefully by creating a new urban texture. The mural layout and color palette masterfully softens and generates a new energy with ever step.
— Introductory text on the website describing the mural on the Franklin Bridge in Allston, MA.

Though we all share public spaces and avenues, we navigate and perceive it in distinct ways. Some notice the ground, some rarely use the sidewalk and others could tell you about every safe place to lock a bike. This week, we’re discussing a particular circumstance tied to Allston, Massachusetts and a footbridge which, previously covered in striking graffiti, has now been painted over with a mural. How do spaces like this designate ownership or artistic intent for a public? How does graffiti draw our attention where it may previously have been absent?