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Drawing inspiration from the High Line, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and the mural festivals in Lynn and Worcester, Malden Arts is partnering with Groundwork Somerville, Mass Development, and the City of Malden to transform Malden and its section of the Northern Strand Community Trail (NSCT) into the ARTLine.
The ARTLine is a public art gallery with miles of professional murals, sculptures and community hubs. These hubs feature gathering spaces with bursts of art, greenscapes, pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, which fuel economic growth through the act of creating unique and interesting places throughout Malden. 
The idea of the Malden Arts ARTLine came after a visit to see the Ed Emberley retrospective at the Worcester Art Museum in 2017. Members identified four living Malden-born artists, writers, musicians that they would like to invite back to Malden to celebrate their contributions to the arts with public murals in Malden. It made sense to start with the oldest and the Ed Emberley mural, designed by Naomi Kahn and painted by high school art students using Ed Emberley drawing books for inspiration, was unveiled with Ed and family in attendance on Exchange Street on May 23, 2018. This was followed by two more celebrity visits from musician Norman Greenbaum in October, 2019 for the Spirit in the Sky mural unveiling, art by Jesse Melanson, location also on Exchange Street, and Frank Stella in December of 2019 who unveiled his design on Malden High School. Working with the youngest of the four artists, Keith Knight, through the pandemic years, he came up with a Malden-centric take on his comic strip “Life’s Little Victories.” The unveiling of the Keith Knight mural was almost four years to the day, May 22, 2022, from the first, the Emberley, May 23, 2018.
By focusing on the creation of gathering spaces in and around public art, the ArtLine will increase foot traffic at the hubs which will in turn benefit local area businesses. The ARTLine will encourage use of the trail for exercise for those on wheels and on foot, and share public art with all the diversity of Malden residents and visitors
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The ARTLine has come
to Malden! The project is funded primarily through grassroots fundraising Be a Part of it! |