Everett artist Kevin Angulo begins an exciting mural project at Walgreens
By Cary Shuman
Where there now exists a barren white wall in Everett Square, a blue jay will fly.
Kevin Angulo, a lifelong artist, has launched a substantial mural project that will depict the hatching and eventual flight of a blue jay and soon beautify the wall of the Walgreens store on Broadway that faces Chelsea Street.
“I still have drawings from when I was in kindergarten at the Lafayette School,” recalled Angulo, a 2013 Everett High School graduate. “So, I feel my passion is rooted deeply in art. Another passion I have is for basketball.”
It is not Angulo’s first Everett-based mural. In 2019, he produced a large mural of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) at the corner of Gladstone and Coburn Terraces.
Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers was present for the first day of the new mural project. A graduate of the Montserrat College of Art and an excellent artist and professional photographer herself, Rogers stopped by to support to Angulo in his efforts.
“I am on the Everett Cultural Council which awards grants to artists like Kevin,” said Rogers.
“This particular project was a challenge because we had to find a suitable location for Kevin to do a mural in Everett. We learned that Walgreens deals with a consistent graffiti problem, and they were open to collaborating with Kevin and the Cultural Council to permit the mural.”
In addition to Rogers’ support, Angulo is also receiving a big assist from the Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores Group, who is donating 30-plus gallons of paint to the project.
“They’ve been very supportive through my last two projects,” lauded Angulo.
Angulo studied for three years at the Museum of Fine Arts School at Tufts University. Before his matriculation at Tufts, the foundation for his pursuit of a career in art had been established during his years in the Everett school district.
“My first art teacher at the Lafayette was Miss [Mary Ann] Sottasanti, and Miss Annette LeRay was my art teacher for all four years at Everett High School,” said Angulo, “I remember being in eighth grade and the teachers recommending to me take art classes. So, from my freshman year on, I received a strong education in art and an accessibility to materials that I didn’t really have at home, like my own easel. When I would go to the art studio after math class or English class, my easel would be there with my paint on it, because I spent so much time there.”
Merging his interests in basketball and art, Angulo, 30, has been working in footwear design, having completed recent for Reebok and Polo Ralph Lauren.
“I’m looking to continue on that career track,” said Angulo.
The Launch of the Blue Jay
Angulo said he is grateful to the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Everett Cultural Council for the grant he received to help fund the project.
“Finding a site was difficult,” said Angulo. “As an artist, I’ve always known the available canvases in the city for public artwork and this site works well for what we’re trying to do in terms of beautification. I received permission from Walgreens, who were 100 percent behind the project.”
He has begun “priming the wall” for his mural and passersby can expect to see him aboard a scaffold doing the actual artwork soon.
Angulo has centered his mural around the flight of a blue jay.
“The blue jay is actually native to Everett and I’m going to depict the evolution of a blue jay learning to fly,” explained Angulo, noting that he collaborated with Councilor Rogers on the ornithological research. “Birds are born with the ability to fly, but they have to learn to fly.”
The paint colors for the “Blue jay Mural” will be blue, grey, white, and black.
Angulo hasn’t set an exact date for completion date for the project, but he is hopeful Everett residents will see the “Blue jay” in full flight by the end of the summer.
Perhaps Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and friends will make a trip to Everett in September to view rising star Kevin Angulo’s biggest work to-date.