A freshly painted Awesome Gloucester mural of a giant Atlantic cod on a cinderblock wall in the heart of the Fort pays tribute to the tight-knit immigrant neighborhood’s ties to the city’s historic fishing industry.
The mural is being painted on a wall adjacent to the Beauport Hotel, 33 Commercial St., where the former Birds Eye frozen fish and foods plant once stood. Standing in front of the mural, one can see the Greasy Pole pier off Pavilion Beach that is part of St. Peter’s Fiesta each year.
The mural initiative is part of Awesome Gloucester which, along with Awesome Rockport, provides microgrants of $1,000 to fund local projects. The organizations, chapters of the Awesome Foundation, have invested $233,000 in more than 190 projects over the years.
The mural of the cod is the sixth produced by Awesome Gloucester and Awesome Rockport, with four previously painted in the city.
“The Codfish Mural” being painted on the wall on Fort Square is part of Awesome Gloucester’s Maritime Heritage Mural series, with this being the fifth in Gloucester.
The mural is being created in acrylic paint by artist Josh Falk of Rockport, who has been involved with all six murals, including one painted in Rockport.
Falk previously partnered with Awesome Gloucester and Awesome Rockport on murals with his former company, Studio Fresh, and his business partner Dana Woulfe. The company is still going, Falk said, but he stepped away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He has worked on a mural at Maritime Gloucester on Harbor Loop, the Winslow Homer mural on Maplewood Avenue, the Fish Workers mural at Ocean Crest Seafoods on Commercial Street and on the mural at the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce.
Falk began working on the mural June 26, and he said Friday he’s nearly done.
The cod, set on a plain blue background, has been painted on a wall of property owned by Christine Ciarametaro and her family, who donated the space for the project.
Rockport resident Sal Zerilli, a dean and founder of Awesome Gloucester and Awesome Rockport, grew up in the Fort and knows the Ciarametaro family. Like many who formerly lived in the neighborhood, Zerilli likes to drive around it when he comes to town.
Noticing the blank wall, he thought it would be a great spot for a mural.
“We wanted to do something iconic, something that represented the history of the city, so, fish obviously is important to the city, important to the neighborhood, and what species is more iconic than the codfish?” he said.
One of the challenges of creating the mural, in addition to rendering the cod on the wall, was the number of folks who wanted to speak to Falk about it while he was trying to paint.
“I like that, you know, when you sign up to do public art, you kind of enlist yourself to that, right, and be able to engage with people,” he said.
Annette Tarantino, who lives in the nearby building owned by the Ciarametaro family with a bird’s-eye view of the mural from her window, said she loves seeing the cod come alive on the wall.
“I look at it every night, it’s awesome,” said Tarantino, who has gotten to know Falk and has helped critique the cod as his work came along.
“It’s been fun,” she said. “It’s been a joy to watch.”
Funding for The Codfish Mural came by way of Awesome Gloucester, the Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County ChangeMakers program, and donations from Awesome Gloucester trustees Sue Salem, Walt Kolenda, and Zerilli. Joe Cribbs provided equipment to prep the wall for the artwork.
Zerilli said there’s a mural planned to be painted at the end of the summer by Falk and Woulfe.
Awesome Gloucester expects to do more murals, and Zerilli invited anyone who wants original art on their property to contact him at the Awesome Foundation’s website at www.awesomefoundation.org/en/chapters/gloucester.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.