“The painting, titled “Breathe Life Together,” and made with acrylic and aerosol paints, is the ninth Greenway mural for Dewey Square, but Gibbs is the first artist born and raised in Boston to be commissioned, and the first Black man. He and his team, the GN Crew, have worked through May, and expect to be finished by June 21. A celebratory block party is planned for June 25.”( quote from Cate McQuaid Boston Globe, June 2, 2022)

This post combines photos from my June visit when “Breathe Life Together”* was still in progress with quotes from rich key resources ( listed below). I hope they will entice you to the exciting photos and interviews within those resources. Above all, I hope you will visit the completed mural itself if you are anywhere near Boston! *the current mural commissioned by the nonprofit Greenway Conservancy

“Gibbs studied the building’s strange composition — a blocky structure, topped on one side by the round belly of a half circle — to discern how and where he wanted to place elements of his mural. The tall rectangular silhouette was perfect for incorporating a very significant boombox. “That’s the stereo out of my grandmother’s house,” Gibbs says……”That’s what played the music when she was cleaning or we was… putting on the hits on Friday nights. That boombox was everything even to the point that like, it gave us hip-hop, you know what I mean?”” (quotes from Arielle Gray in WBUR Arts and Culture, June 2022)

“My vision is to add to Boston’s skyline in a way that elevates the voices and work of those who’ve come before us as well as our future generations. It’s about taking this space to a higher frequency of love and understanding,” says Boston artist Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs, who has been painting his “Breathe Life Together” mural in Dewey Square on Boston’s Greenway…… Local artists Genaro “Go Five” Ortega, Lee “SOEM” Beard and Luis “Take 1” Taforo have been helping Gibbs paint the mural.” ( quote from Greg Cook WONDERLAND June 2022)

“For Gibbs, the mural at the Rose Kennedy Greenway is a vastly different project from his other “Breathe Life” murals that enliven walls in Roxbury and Dorchester. “The Greenway is like the gateway to so much of Boston,” Gibbs points out. Connecting several of Boston’s major areas like South Station, the Seaport and the Financial District, the Greenway has featured massive murals and other art installations for years. But Gibbs is the first homegrown artist to be asked to create a mural for the Greenway. The milestone isn’t lost on the seasoned muralist.” (quote from Arielle Gray in WBUR Arts and Culture, June 2022)

KEY RESOURCES:

“When a mural is a mirror: In Dewey Square, Rob ‘ProBlak’ Gibbs pays tribute to youth around the city“ Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, June 2022 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/06/02/arts/when-mural-is-mirror-dewey-square-rob-problak-gibbs-pays-tribute-youth-around-city/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results

“At the Greenway, Rob ‘ProBlak’ Gibbs paints an ode to Boston” by Arielle Gray for WBUR Arts and Culture https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/06/23/rose-kennedy-greenway-rob-problak-gibbs-breathe-life-together

“Rob ‘ProBlak’ Gibbs’ “Breathe Life Together” Mural On Boston’s Greenway” Greg Cook’s Wonderland, June 14, 2022 https://gregcookland.com/wonderland/2022/06/14/problak-gibbs/

“Breathe Life Together,” 2022, Art, The Greenway https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/problak