POW! WOW! 2017 Sites

Curated by Sarah Kwatinetz

POW! WOW! Worcester 2016 was a hard act to follow, but 2017 proved that this art festival was no one hit wonder. 2017 will be remembered as the year POW! WOW! grew bolder: painting more murals on more sites, leaping out from the confines of downtown, stretching into new neighborhoods, and deepening community connections with the city’s public schools, iconic family-run businesses, and exciting new developments. No site illustrates the boldness of the dual commitment to arts and community as well as the 11 murals on Elm Park Community School. With nearly three-quarters of its students coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, Elm Park Community School still faces its share of challenges, but it is harder for students walking into the building not to be inspired by the art that surrounds them.

26 Millbury St

From around 1926 forward in the historically Polish and Lithuanian neighborhood along Millbury Street, Maurice White operated a shop that went by many names – the Maurice White Variety, Supreme Market, Maurice's, White’s 5 Cents to a Dollar, and…

23 N. Ashland Street

Perhaps no building was as radically transformed by POW! WOW! murals as the brick behemoth of Elm Park Community School. In 2017, Eleven large scale murals were painted on the once drab brick exterior, transforming the building into the most vibrant…

55 Salisbury St

The Worcester Art Museum (WAM) has a reputation for broadening the definition of what constitutes art. In 1904, the museum was the first to exhibit photography as fine art. In 1927, it pioneered the acquisition, shipment, and installation of a…

315 St. Nicholas Ave

It is only appropriate that the Worcester Arts Magnet School, an elementary school with special programming in the dramatic, musical, and visual arts as well as dance, welcomed nine POW! WOW! artists in 2017. The murals are spread across the…

244 Park Ave.

Before the rise of the “Big Three” American automakers (Ford, Chrysler, and GMC), numerous manufacturers turned out cars and crowded cities with dealerships. Worcester was no exception. The west side of Park Ave between Elm St. and Pleasant St. was…

76 Massasoit Rd

The Rice Square Elementary School has been a Massasoit Road institution, continuously serving area families since its construction in 1914. Responding to overcrowding in the school system due to explosive population growth over the first two decades…

11 Sever St

When urban renewal came to the Elm Park neighborhood in the late 1960s, it brought with it the prospect of government-supported affordable housing. In 1971, work began on a $4 million apartment complex between Fruit and Sever Streets that included…

104 Harding Street

When Canadian street artists Earth Crusher and Five8 came to Worcester, they had no intention of fooling around. Together, they scored the largest canvas during the 2017 POW! WOW! – the 240 feet by 33 feet wall of the Fidelity Bank Ice Center.…

34 Green St.

The Dive Bar hosted two muralists during POW! WOW! 2017. Worcester native Scott Boilard painted the Dive Bar’s Temple Street wall, while Ferdinand, also of Worcester, brought an electric energy to the wall running along the Bar’s beer garden.

158 Southbridge St.

Worcester has few landmarks as iconic as the 40-foot neon sign of a giant hotdog dripping flashing neon mustard that beckons hungry hordes to George's Coney Island. Little has changed over the years at this eatery and this is a major reason why…

455 Pleasant St.

J.C. White opened the store in 1852, but Charles C. Lowell purchased the store after many years serving its customers. In the early 20th-century, the store moved to Pearl Street, where it expanded its offerings, even selling gasoline for a time as…

129 Canterbury Street

Originally established to serve the families of recent immigrants to the city, who settled among the factories bordering the railroad line running parallel to Canterbury Street, the school has served working families for more than a century. Over…