Relationships and the City 3: In the Raw

By Steven Froias

It’s February – and inspired by Valentine’s Day, Groundwork! is spotlighting meaningful relationships at the coworking facility and throughout the City of New Bedford. We’ll be looking at simple collaborations that are creating vignettes that are like digital Valentine’s. Cupid may or may not be involved – but community is definitely at the heart of it all and we invite you to share the love.

Part 3: Groundwork! In The Raw

You only need to look at the walls of this coworking facility to find creative collaboration. A big part of Groundwork!’s appeal to the community has been the artists and art featured in the Groundwork! Gallery – curated by co-founder Dena Haden.

But in addition to mounting exhibitions, the gallery has also done something else. It’s let notable artists loose in the space to create mural art.

It started with Timothy Ellis Cole over two years ago. His mural by the Groundwork! Kitchen – combined with the letters spelling out “New Bedford” above – has become an icon of New Bedford now. It features in a lot of our promotional material, and has come to symbolize this space’s hold on the popular imagination at this moment in time.

Now, another artist is getting a chance to create some coworking iconography.

Chelsea Arruda has painted two murals in each of our phone booths. They are the spaces members use when they need to make a phone call and require some privacy.

I’ve long been a fan of Arruda’s fantastic design work. Not only is she a superior graphic designer, her original illustrations are truly that: original – as seen through the eyes of her trademark “Little Monster.”

Chelsea puts her work on apparel and sells it as Electrikk Clothing. It’s been a fixture at first Craft-O-Rama and now it’s artisan gift store evolution, downtown New Bedford’s Hippo at 741 Purchase Street.

At 1213 Purchase Street, our address, you can come to the official unveiling/opening of Chelsea Arruda’s Phone Booth Murals on Friday, March 2 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. The artist will be present, along with Electrikk Clothing for sale.

And thus, a simple but exciting creative collaboration will continue. The relationship between our walls and our artists are a reflection of the city today – and into tomorrow.

Come phone home on Friday, March 2.

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Steven Froias

Mad Man at Groundwork!

Steven Froias is Groundwork!'s resident blogger. He sleeps in the boiler room at 1213 Purchase Street.