This mural sits on the edge of Holyoke’s newly designated Puerto Rican Cultural District. Since the early 1980s, the Puerto Rican community in Holyoke has created memorable work, influences, and community building resulting in meaningful change and economic and cultural enhancement of the City. As a result, Holyoke has the largest per capita Puerto Rican population of any city in the United States outside of Puerto Rico.
“El Maestro de las Mascaras (The Master of Masks)” by Don Rimx and David Zayas presents Don Raúl Ayala Carrasquillo, Loizeño, son of the renowned artisan master, Don Castor Ayala. He learned the art of crafting coconut and vejigante masks from his father, without losing the traditional techniques. However, he added more vibrant colors and additional horns, among other elements, to his masks, making them uniquely his own. Raúl passed down this art to his children and other family members to preserve the tradition.
David Zayas is an internationally renowned Puerto Rican artist whose murals can be seen on walls across the world, from Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Israel and the US. Zayas studied painting […]
