Research

Charlotte is a current graduate student in the Masters of Regional Planning program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is beginning to embark on her thesis project with Common Wealth Murals (CWM), a community mural organization in Springfield, MA. She plans to study the impact that CWM's murals have had in the Black, Italian, and Puerto Rican communities in Springfield, MA. Mainly, does the cultural representation present in CWM's murals impact community members' sense of belonging in their neighborhood and in Springfield as a whole? Do these murals change the way these communities ascribe meaning to the built environment?