If you have walked down Salem St. at night, you probably have noticed how storefront roll down doors have turned into neighborhood art, courtesy of local artist Nate Swain. Shown above is Polcari’s door where an antique photo image is printed on sticky vinyl. Up the block at Rabia’s, the four roll down doors are in the process of being painted with a fish/ocean scene. The ocean image is not yet finished; look for a snow crab and coral soon.
“I have discovered roll down doors are fun to work on because its like magic. Now you see it, now you don’t,” says Nate. And there’s more coming! Nate has plans to paint the far right True Value roll down door soon and would like to do something nice to Al Dente’s door.
Photos courtesy of Nathan Swain.
Oh Swell, we have gone from one restaurant owner's attempt at the Disneyfication of the North End to one "artist's" repeated attempts at the tackyification of the North End. Please STTTOOOOOPPPPP!
Fantastic! Excellent alternative to horizontal blandness. Swain has added life to the North End's otherwise bland spaces.
I have to agree with makeitgoaway. I'm sorry but I'm just not a fan of decorating the North End. The power building windows, the St. Leonard's ivy wrap, these painted store grates actually detract from the neighborhood. The real beauty of the North End lies in the neighborhood's authenticity. If anything we should be encouraging these businesses to take down their grates not to paint them. The newer businesses like Vito's, Lulu's, and Acquire don't have grates. Their store fronts look terrific and this adds to the street scape 24 hours a day.
Polcari's is OK…but Nemo is not good on Rabias
Love the Polcari's one!