Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans brings ARTivism to Boston

August 4, 2021

Featured mural by Sophy Tuttle

ARTivism – the name for combining art and activism – has long been our guiding principle at Bow Seat. This past month I was thrilled to work once again with The PangeaSeed Foundation and their Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans Program to bring amazing public art murals and programming to my home town of Boston.  For almost a decade now we have partnered and traveled with PangeaSeed to raise awareness for our oceans. This year, I was thrilled to sponsor their efforts in Boston, which produced 14 new murals in the area, to join 7 from Sea Walls Boston 2020, including a stunning Shepard Fairey mural at the New England Aquarium. As my friend and colleague Tre’ Packard from PangeaSeed says “teamwork makes for dream work” and having these extraordinary murals in Boston is certainly a dream come true for me!

—Linda Cabot: President and Founder of Bow Seat

Sea Walls Boston 2021 invited 15 artists from around the world to paint 14 murals in East Boston, Fenway, and on the facade of the New England Aquarium’s Simons Theatre.

Artists Shepard Fairey (L.A.), Dragon76 (Japan), MARKA27 (NYC), Nneka Jones (Tampa | Trinidad), Sabrina Dorsainvil (Boston), Lauren YS (L.A.), Sophy Tuttle (Lowell), Taj Francis (Jamaica), TALLBOY (Salem), It’s A Living (NYC | Mexico), Felipe Ortiz (Boston | Colombia), Beau Stanton (NYC), Josie Morway (Boston), Kai Kaulukukui (Hawaii), and Taylor Reinhold (Santa Cruz) all joined in to speak up for our oceans using their incredible talent and vision.

Bow Seat, as the Youth Engagement Partner, is working with the Donald McKay K-8 School in East Boston to develop Visual Thinking Strategies-based programming for the upcoming school year. The McKay School is home to four of the newest murals.

As the artists were bringing their creations to life in the Boston community, the New England Aquarium hosted their first in-person event since the start of the pandemic: Countdown to 2030: Leveraging Art and Creativity for the Ocean Decade. The panelists, including our President and Founder Linda Cabot, spoke on the role of art in achieving the goal of protecting 30% of our lands, oceans, and waters by 2030.

Art has the power to start conversations and connect people to the ocean. As PangeaSeed’s Director of Operations Akira Biondo expressed – you protect what you know and what’s familiar to you. These murals help people understand and care about a seemingly distant, yet vulnerable world.

Sea Walls Boston culminated in the completion of Shepard Fairey’s massive mural on the Simon’s Theatre at the New England Aquarium. Linda Cabot, also a Trustee of the New England Aquarium sponsored this iconic mural. Fairey’s documentary Obey Giant was shown inside the Simon’s Theatre, telling the story of Fairey’s rise as a street artist, his famous Obama Hope poster, and his continuous use of art to fight for social and environmental justice.

Watch Shepard Fairey X PangeaSeed Foundation’s Sea Walls Boston

If you find yourself in Boston, Sea Walls has created a walking tour of the murals in East Boston. In the meantime, take a look at some of the stunning murals below. Be sure to check @pangeaseed and the artists’ Instagrams for more photos.