Artist Phill Bourque loves returning to his old stomping ground in Taunton.
Now based in Los Angeles, he’s been returning to The Silver City the last couple of years not just to see family, but also for work.
“The fact that I have hometown support makes me happy,” he said. Regarding his paintings, he adds, “I really just want to make someone’s day. If I can put some color into the neighborhood, I feel the world is a brighter place with that.”
Growing up in Taunton near the Whittenton neighborhood, he tapped into many of his childhood memories in order to create a new work of art, a love letter to the area.
Bourque just completed a new wall mural, located on the side of Goldstein’s store on Bay Street, available for the world to view.
Titled “Love where you live,” the mural is the first of several murals being created as part of the city’s Mural Program, a public art installation initiative the mayor and Office of Economic and Community Development (OECD) started in late 2023 to beautify neighborhoods, promote the city’s culture, and drive economic growth.
“We’re proud to enhance our city and celebrate community pride through our mural program. Phill Borque was the ideal artist to bring the Whittenton mural to life—he captured the neighborhood’s history, its cherished memories, and the enduring spirit of our community with remarkable skill,” said Mayor Shaunna O’Connell in a written statement.
The mural itself
Bourque’s new mural is essentially a showcase of Whittenton’s past and present.
He said he was inspired by memories of growing up in Taunton in 1990’s, driving around with his parents, “sun hitting the dashboard, wind hitting my face, that’s the energy brought into the piece.”
In the form of nonlinear storytelling, the mural depicts a driver, someone from Whittenton, traveling back and forth through time, seeing and remembering landmarks of the past, while appreciating those in the present. “This is multi-generational. It’s eternal,” he said, pointing out the stick shift, iPod, and the dancing hula girl doll seen in the car on the mural.
Though it looks like Whittenton is on a hill in the mural, Bourque explained it’s really “stadium-style” illustration done to fit as much detail into the piece as possible.
He said the mural plays to people’s desire for nostalgia. At first glance, viewers will see Henry’s Root Beer in the center of the mural, a tribute, Bourque said, to the burgers and ice cream he loved getting there in his youth. “I felt people would love seeing things that used to be here.”
Longtime Tauntonians will recognize a variety of past and modern day sites and businesses to pick out in the mural.
How long it took?
Bourque spent a month here in Taunton working on “Love where you live.” The first week of April was spent cleaning and preparing the wall for paint. He commenced painting around April 8 and completed the installation on April 28.
He said an anti-graffiti lacquer coating was applied to the mural.
Portfolio across the city
This is far from Bourque’s first mural for the city of Taunton.
He’s created two murals for Taunton Public Schools, including one completed last year and seen on the exterior wall of Taunton High School adjacent to the baseball field.
He also did a repainting of a wall mural in the Weir Village previously done in 1999 by local Taunton artist John Barradas, but had succumbed to the elements and graffiti over time. Bourque’s reinterpretation of Barradas’ piece can be seen on the side of Pistol Pete’s Barber Shop on West Water Street in the Weir Village.
How the new mural came about?
Bourque said he has fond memories of getting school supplies from Goldstein’s 5 & 10 on Bay Street as a kid.
After finishing the mural for Taunton High School last year, Bourque was driving with his father through Whittenton and stopped at Goldstein’s. He said he looked at the building, saw one of its exterior walls, and was instantly inspired. “I thought it was a good place for new work,” he said.
He had spoken with the owner, Lance Goldstein, who was interested. Bourque later found out the site “was already on the mayor’s radar” for the mural program. He said conversations with the OECD and the mayor’s office led to his new assignment.
“Phill is an incredibly talented artist. We were thrilled to have him paint the first of the murals for the Mayor’s Mural Program,” said Mayor O’Connell.
The mural program in Taunton
Six murals are planned under the city’s Mural Program, with Bourque’s Whittenton installation being the first.
The Mural Program is funded by $75,000 total in ARPA funding that was committed and approved for this project in 2023, Mayor O’Connell said.
Jay Pateakos, director of the OECD, said back in October 2023 an inspiration for the Mural Program were two mural installations, also in Whittenton, that were funded through a program run by Mass Development.
All of Bourque’s prior installations weren’t part of the Mural Program. The two school installations were funded by the Taunton School Department.
The Weir Village repainting was funded by the OECD.
Pateakos said other locations chosen for the Mural Program include the Rob Roy building in downtown, Seeley Court on Weir Street, and the Riverhouse restaurant.
Will Bourque return?
Bourque has other projects and installations he’s contracted for in different parts of the country.
He said the OECD and mayor “were adamant on me doing more,” but nothing is official.
He said Taunton remains a priority for him and hopes to do more projects in the city.
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