Burlington Town Center Mural

A Mural with a Purpose

This mural is part of Burlington’s “placemaking” effort which is a people-centered approach to the planning, design, and use of public spaces. Through a collaborative process, do-able improvements are identified and implemented that bring immediate benefits to the people who use these spaces. Placemaking in the Town of Burlington is not just the act of building or fixing up a space, it is a process in which people feel a strong stake in their communities and commitment to making things better.

The Town’s Economic Development Director, Melisa Tintocalis, described the intention behind this initiative, “The three main goals of the mural project are to 1) enhance the Town Center by transforming an ordinary wall into a vibrant work of art; 2) create an inviting space that attracts fresh interest to our Town Center’s small businesses; and 3) celebrate Burlington’s charm through visual art.”

The Town’s Economic Development Office secured grant funding and initiated a call for Artists to create a Welcome to Burlington mural. The selected artist team was AJ Smith & Muralist. You can find more of his work here @ajsmithnet

To learn more about the Town’s Economic Development Initiative, explore this website or reach out to the Economic Development Office by email. Melisa at mtintocalis@burlington.org or Kelly at kcogavin@burlington.org.

Martha E. Sewall Curtis

Martha E. Sewall Curtis was an American suffragist and writer from Burlington, MA. During her life, she was a teacher, lecturer, editor of a weekly woman’s column in the Woburn News, and the president of the Woburn Equal Suffrage League. She is a descendant of one of the oldest families in New England, the Sewalls.

Roderick MacKinnon

Roderick MacKinnon is an American biophysicist, neuroscientist, and businessman, born in Burlington, MA. In 2003, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside Peter Agre for work on the structure and operation of ion channels. He is currently a professor of molecular neurobiology and biophysics at Rockefeller University in New York City.

Kevin James / Paul Blart

Kevin James is an American comedian and actor who is most known for his starring role in the comedy, Paul Blart: Mall Cop which was predominantly filmed at the Burlington Mall. His other notable credits include Grown Ups, The King of Queens, and Hotel Transylvania.

Roger Cook

Roger Cook is a former gardener and landscaper most known for his time on the PBS home renovation show, This Old House. Cook serves on the editorial board of This Old House magazine and has made contributions to Complete Landscaping magazine. He lives in Burlington, MA with his two children.

David Lovering

David Lovering is an American musician and magician who grew up in Burlington, MA. He is most known as the drummer in the ‘80s alternative rock band Pixies. Lovering also has a successful magic career as the Scientific Phenomenalist; he performs science and physics experiments in a lab coat on stage.

Kitty and Peter Carruthers

Caitlin “Kitty” Carruthers is a former American figure skater from Burlington, MA. She won the 1984 Olympic Silver medal and a 1982 World Bronze medal with her adoptive brother Peter Carruthers. She is also a four-time United States National champion.

Kali Flanagan

Kali Flanagan is an American professional ice hockey player for the Professional Women’s Hockey League in Toronto and the United States women’s national ice hockey team. She was born in Burlington, MA, and began her career as a figure skater before switching to hockey. She is the first female coach for the United States Premier Hockey League, working as an assistant coach for the Northern Cyclones.

Jay Pandolfo

Jay Pandolfo is an American professional ice hockey head coach and former player for the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins. He grew up in Burlington High School, playing for their hockey team until graduating in 1992. Pandolfo runs a hockey camp in Andover, MA with former teammate and New Jersey Devil player Scott Gomez.

Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler is an American Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award Award-winning actress and comedian who grew up in Burlington, MA. Her most notable credits include SNL, Parks and Recreation, Inside Out, and Sisters alongside Tina Fey.

Steven Wright

Steven Wright is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer born and raised in Burlington, MA. He is an Academy Award winner for his live-action short film, The Appointments of Dennis Jenkins (1988). Rolling Stone ranked Wright as the 15th Greatest Comedian in its 2017 list of 50 Greatest Stand-up Comics.

Augusto Grace

Augusto Grace is an American lawyer and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991, representing the 23rd Middlesex District; he also served on the Burlington School Committee from 1977 to 1983. In 2015, he earned the position of Deputy Director of Education and Development at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

James MacGregor Burns

James MacGregor Burns was an American historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential biographer, and leadership scholar who was raised in Burlington, MA. Burns wrote more than 20 books which included biographies of John and Edward Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt. He added long-lasting contributions to the transactional, transformational, aspirational, and visionary schools of leadership theory.

Steve Strachan

Steve Strachan is a former American football running back from Burlington, MA who played in the National Football League (NFL). The Los Angeles Raiders drafted Strachan in 1985 and he played for them for five seasons until 1989.