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Painting the Town Red — and Blue and Green and Orange and …

2023 Alumni Award Honoree Silvia López Chavez spreads joy and community connectivity — and color — with her murals throughout Boston’s suburbs and beyond.

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2023 Common Good Awards Alumni Award Honoree, Silvia López Chavez

Silvia López Chavez is a Dominican-American artist whose collaborative, community-centered murals aim to forge meaningful cross-cultural connections. Her vibrant, joyful works dramatically transform urban spaces by honoring the identity of a place and its people, all while remaining approachable and accessible to a wide audience. López Chavez views art-making as a critical tool for community building, and seeks to bring awareness to contemporary issues of social and environmental justice throughout her work. She is a frequent collaborator on public art projects with urban planners, architects, non-profits, developers, and activists.

López Chavez’s local works can be seen across Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Lynn, Salem, Beverly, Danvers, Ipswich, and Marblehead. She is a Neighborhood Salon Luminary at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the recipient of a New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) Leadership in Public Art award (2021), and a Studios at MASS MoCA artist in residence. Commissions include the U.S. Chinese Embassy in Beijing, Google HQ in California, SeaWalls Boston, MIT, Harvard University, Twitter, and Northeastern University.

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Deep Dive: How Alumna Olivia Eburne is Transforming Glass to Save the Environment

MassArt alumna Olivia Eburne transforms discarded glass into sustainable design, combining creative practice, marine conservation, and meaningful environmental action solutions.

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Smiling woman, Olivia Eburne, in a wetsuit with snorkel gear sits on a boat by turquoise water and lush green trees.

Niveah Sun on Educating the Next Generation of Artists

Discover how Niveah Sun ’26 found her path in art education and developed her passion for teaching at MassArt.

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Student Niveah Sun, a smiling woman with wavy hair, sits in an art-filled room wearing layered necklaces and a black top.
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