Help Us Bring Our New Community Market to Life!

Healthy Waltham is inviting local artists, community members, students, and creatives to submit an original design for a new mural celebrating community, health, food, dignity, and connection.

The mural will be painted on the 23 x 10 ft exterior wall of the new Healthy Waltham Community Market at 123 Felton Street in Waltham by a professional mural painter!

Our new Community Market represents an important evolution of Healthy Waltham. Rather than a traditional food pantry, the new Community Market is designed to feel like a grocery store, creating an environment where community members can access nutritious food with choice, dignity, and respect.

We want our mural to capture what Healthy Waltham means to the people and communities we serve.

The Challenge

Create an original mural concept that represents Healthy Waltham, our commitment to community care and health, and the spirit of our new Community Market.

We encourage artists to interpret this theme in their own creative voice. Your design can be realistic, abstract, symbolic, colorful, minimalist, or a combination of styles.

Think about:

• Food as a right and access to nutritious food
• Community care and neighbors supporting one another
• Physical, mental, emotional, and social health
• The joy and dignity that comes with having choice
• Waltham’s diverse cultures, families, and generations
• Connection between food, health, people, and community
• Growth, hope, and a healthier future
• The Community Market as a welcoming space for everyone

There is no single “right” way to represent these ideas. We want to see your vision of what a healthy, caring, and connected community looks like.

SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30TH

Electronic submissions can be emailed to [email protected]

Paper submissions can be mailed to 510 Moody St

Submission Guidelines

1. The mural dimensions will be 23 ft wide x 10 ft tall. Submissions can be made digitally (jpg, png, pdf) or on paper using roughly a 2:1 scale.The winning design will be scaled and adjusted as necessary to fit the dimensions of the mural wall. The maximum size for paper submissions is 11″x17″.
2. Artwork must be original and created specifically for this competition.
3. Designs should reflect the mission and values of Healthy Waltham and meaningfully connect to the Community Market.
4. Artwork should be welcoming and appropriate for a community space serving people of all ages and backgrounds.
5. Artists may use any artistic medium that can be clearly reproduced for a large-scale mural.
6. Avoid copyrighted characters, logos, or artwork belonging to other organizations or individuals.
7. Because the artwork will be enlarged substantially, avoid excessive fine detail that may not translate well to a mural.
8. Text is permitted but should be limited and easy to read.
9. Please include a 2–3 sentence artist statement describing the inspiration or meaning behind your design.

What We’re Looking For

The winning design will not simply be a beautiful piece of art – it will help tell the story of who we are and what we believe. Let your imagination lead!

We are looking for a design that is:

Welcoming – Makes people feel that they belong.

Meaningful – Communicates the importance of food, health, dignity, and community.

Creative – Offers a unique artistic interpretation of Healthy Waltham.

Inclusive – Reflects the diversity and richness of our community.

Mural-Friendly — Can be successfully translated from paper into a large-scale mural.

Most importantly, we want the mural to make people feel proud, welcomed, cared for, and connected to their community.

Here are some helpful prompts:

• What does a healthy community look like?
• What does it feel like to be cared for?
• What does food, dignity, and belonging look like?

 

We are so excited to see what you come up with!

Please direct all questions to [email protected]

Remember, submissions will be accepted up until September 30th!

Happy creating!

Team Healthy Waltham

Congratulations, Bj!

Dear Theresa,

We are so incredibly proud to announce that Healthy Waltham’s own Executive Director, Bj Osuagwu, has been named a 2026 Nonprofit Excellence Awards finalist in the Young Professional category! The awards, hosted by the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits

and presented by Citizens, are awarded to individuals and organizations exemplifying the most innovative, creative, and effective work being done throughout the Commonwealth.

We are thrilled to celebrate Bj for this well-deserved recognition honoring his extraordinary leadership and service to the community. Whether expanding access to preventative healthcare or quickly launching food delivery services for immigrant families, Bj leads with compassion, urgency, and dignity and demonstrates on a daily basis his passion for Healthy Waltham’s mission and his deep belief in that food is a fundamental human right, not a privilege.

We are deeply thankful for this recognition and humbled to be in the company of so many extraordinary changemakers doing impactful work throughout our state. An event celebrating the finalists will be held at the New England Aquarium on June 17, 2026.

Please join us in congratulating Bj on this well-deserved recognition!

Team Healthy Waltham