See It Go!: Visions of Boston’s Citgo Sign
Christopher Abrams, Eddie Bruckner, Laura Buscemi, Neil Collins, Elis Gjoni, Ileana Doble Hernandez,
Lauren Pellerano Gomez and Shannon McLean, Steve Jacobson, LeeAnn Law, Sherwin Long, Eric MC Funk, Darren McCollester, Morrichal (Sebastian Chalela Morris), Adam O'Day, Matt Paul, Robert Peters,
Oneil Pimentel, Rick Pinchera, John Savoia, Melody Wan
October 23 - 26, 2025
Affordable Art Fair
Boston’s Citgo sign has been a landmark of the city’s skyline since 1965. The iconic logo has come to symbolize much more than a mere brand. ShowUp is excited to take part in Boston’s first edition of the Affordable Art Fair (October 23-26th) through a juried group exhibition focused on this classic landmark.
Banner image: Steve Jacobson
About the Artists
Christopher Abrams is an artist and teacher who lives and works in Waltham, Massachusetts. Abrams graduated Harvard University’s Visual Arts Program and earned a MFA in Sculpture from the Massachusetts College of Art, and exhibits regionally and nationally. Abrams is currently a member at Boston Sculptors Gallery in Boston’s South End.
Abrams can be found at www.christopherabrams.com, on Instagram (@ChrisAbrams0), and at www.bostonsculptors.com.
Eddie Bruckner is a professional visual artist who creates original acrylic Pop-Art paintings, public art projects, teaches group classes, as well as personalized, in-home art lessons for adults and teens. He has a BA from Brandeis University, has two masters degrees, and is a Grumbacher certified art instructor. He brings a well-rounded knowledge of art, artists, materials, and techniques from his education, various teaching experiences, and career as a professional artist.
Eddie uses vibrant colors, bold lines, and the illusion of mosaic tile as a visual language of happiness, love, and the beautification of physical space. His artwork is about having fun, bringing a smile to people’s faces, and at the same time, providing a unique way of experiencing some of our most familiar objects, places, or people. “I create an illusion of mosaic tile that provides cohesion to my body of work and serves to provide balance, repetition, movement, and other elements of strong artistic design and composition. I often think about the mosaic element as confetti, to further my goal of conveying fun, exhilaration, and happiness; the mosaic patterns add life and positive energy into my work. I want my audience to personally connect to my art and enjoy the experience.”
Eddie exhibits widely throughout New England as well as around the world. He serves on the Board of the Wellesley Society of Artists and is an artist-member of the Attleboro Arts Museum. He has exhibited his artwork all over the country with shows in New York, California, Texas, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Missouri, Maryland, and on Boston’s Newbury Street. His artwork has been selected for a number of prestigious juried art shows such as the Attleboro Arts Museum’s Annual Juried National Exhibition, Cambridge Art Association’s National Prize Show, and the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts Annual Juried Exhibition. Recent public art projects include commissions by the City of Boston’s Public Art Commission to paint electrical boxes near Fenway Park and along the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, and along the Boston Marathon Route in Natick, MA; Several Expo Metro International Public Art Installations in Barcelona, Milan, Amsterdam, Miami Beach, and Times Square, NYC; Selected by Rockefeller Center in New York City for their Flag Project Public Art Installations in August 2020 and April 2023; A painted fiberglass guitar for the GuitARTS Public Art Project; and #JumpNatick, a hopscotch court located in Natick Town Common; and the “Play Me, I’m Yours” Street Piano Public Art Project for the Celebrity Series of Boston.
Laura Buscemi is a multimedia illustrator and designer from the greater Boston area who enjoys introducing vibrant, surrealistic, and playful visuals into daily life. She received her BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2024 and has been utilizing the quality of human touch in her work as she advances her career. No matter the medium she works with, her style of texture based mark making remains prevalent and is a reflection of the craftsmanship involved with each piece. Blending what is real with what is imagined, she allows the viewer to perceive their surroundings in a different light. Through public artworks, she transforms neighborhoods and engages with the public. Her work can be found throughout the city of Boston and beyond since focusing on large scale paintings in 2021. In 2022 she participated in the Paintbox program through the City of Boston where she designed and installed an original sunflower artwork on a utility box to liven up what is normally a dull, gray cube. In 2023 she helped install 3 murals on the MassArt campus after receiving design input from different departments. Continuing to assist others with mural installation in 2024, her confidence in the field allowed her to pursue more public projects in 2025 including a sidewalk mural in Arlington, window paintings in Lowell and Winchester, and a wall in Northborough that brings color to a local splash pad. While attending MassArt she received the Vice President’s Award for her illustration displayed in the All School Show gallery and earned the Illustration Departmental Award from the same institution. When she’s not creating artwork for the public, she is working with clients as a freelance illustrator where she enjoys the variety of creative opportunities that come her way. With every project she expands her knowledge and techniques as there are always new variables to take into consideration. Her body of work and collection of portfolios can be viewed on her website (laurabuscemiart.com) or on her Instagram page (@the.angelic.artist).
Neil Collins: A inherent love of the ocean has led me to my current place as an artist. I’ve been told my work is whimsical & imaginative. A lifelong painter & artist, and a native to Cape Cod. Working in many disciplines such as en plein air,realism, abstract, surrealism, with some whimsical influence. I try to work on intuition with ideas and expand the range as an artist
Website: https://neilcapecod.wixsite.com/neiltheartist
Instagram: @neiltheartiste
Eric MC Funk is a Boston-based illustrator, motion designer, and muralist who aims to add positivity to the world through his work. With over a decade of experience, he's created for clients ranging from global brands to local communities. When not crafting client projects, he can be found experimenting with new ideas, sketchbook in one hand, iced coffee in the other.
Website: www.ericmcfunk.com
Instagram: emcfunk
Elis Gjoni was born in 1988 in Puka and later moved to Tirana, Albania, where he completed his studies at the Artistic Liceum “Jordan Misja.” In 2009, he pursued further education at the Academy of Fine Arts (now the University of the Arts), graduating in 2014 with a major in Atelier of Multimedia. Throughout his academic journey, Elis has contributed to theater, short films, workshops, documentaries, and television, and participated in exhibitions both locally and internationally.
Specializing in video art and installations, Elis experiments with expressions, emotions, and mechanical movements through electricity. He transforms everyday objects into subjects that seemingly self-confess, drawing heavily on his personal biography and instinct. His minimalist approach brings value to previously overlooked objects, giving them new meaning through movement and concept. Experiences from building houses to traveling and filmmaking deeply influence his artistic process.
For over nine years, Elis has been developing and updating his art in Massachusetts, refining his distinctive language in video and installation art. His work delves into spaces where nothing seems to exist, uncovering new possibilities. Elis’s work has been exhibited in both national and international venues, including FAP Gallery (Tirana, Albania), N’shpi (Tirana, Albania), Animart (Monodendri, Greece), XXL National Experimental Theater (Tirana, Albania), Yanni Ricos (Corfu, Greece), Contemporary Art Center (New Orleans), Tirana Open (Tirana, Albania), Volkstheater (Vienna, Austria), Art Walk (New Hampshire), Advancing Art & Design (New York), TIFF (Tirana, Albania), The Uncertainty Principle at FPAC Gallery (Boston), Albania Film Week (New York), Filmapalooza (New Mexico), Fort Point Arts Community (Boston), Open Studio Public Art at FPAC (Boston), and The Alternative Art Space of Tirana (Tirana, Albania), Fort Point Art (Boston), TIVA Award, Tirana International Video Art Festival (Tirana, Albania), and CRAG (Columbia, New Hampshire).
Lauren Pellerano Gomez (b. 1989, Miami, Florida) is an artist whose practice centers on word-based art and objects, exploring the intersections of language, materiality, and meaning. Their work has been exhibited nationally at the Yale Art Book Fair, Boston Art Book Fair, Practice Space, and SpaceUs. They hold a Master’s degree in Fashion Studies from Parsons The New School for Design. Pellerano Gomez’s work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Huffington Post, and International Business Times and their writing has appeared in Cultured Magazine, Boston Art Review, and several co-authored books on fashion and social justice.
Website: laurenpelleranogomez.com
IG: @artdykeofficial
Shannon McLean (b. 1993, Long Island, NY) is a graphic designer and web developer working at the intersection of art, architecture, and digital experience. Currently the Graphic Designer at SITE SANTA FE, Shannon brings over a decade of experience developing visual identities and digital platforms for cultural institutions, nonprofits, and architectural practices. Their work with clients including Harvard, MIT, MASS MoCA, and the Monacelli Press has been recognized by AIGA, the SEGD Global Design Awards, and the Type Directors Club.
Website: shannonmclean.info
Lauren and Shannon co-founded Queering Boston, a social art practice that fostered queer community and was featured in Autostraddle, running from 2018 to 2019. Together, they lead Large & Small, a creative agency whose work includes a site-specific installation for Google’s Cambridge Headquarters, as well as projects for Lawyers for Civil Rights, the Greater Boston Latino Network, and Edvestors among others.
Shannon and Lauren live and work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with their dog, Pepito.
Ileana Doble Hernandez is a visual artist who believes that art has the power to make people care, this is why she has been making art for over a decade, as a form of activism. Drawing from her experience as an immigrant and mother, Hernandez creates work that asks the audience to confront issues like gun violence, the need for immigration and the imperialistic practices of the U.S.
Through her traveling installations "Postcards to end gun violence" more than 700 postcards have been mailed to U.S. elected officials to advocate for gun control. Since 2020 she's collaborated with Imaginary Lines Project, an ongoing socially engaged artistic endeavor that shares the journey of people who have walked the U.S./Mexico border.
Her image and text based practice encompasses many mediums including photography, video, site-specific installations and collage. In her lectures, she shares first hand experience about how the uncontrolled gun culture in the United States spurs conflicts around the world, including those related to the drug wars in her home country, Mexico.
Hernandez has contributed to more than 60 group exhibitions at institutions like the Society of Photographic Education in the U.S., Rencontres d'Arles in France and CICA Museum in South Korea. Since 2024 her works have been shown at the Old Stone House Museum in Brooklyn, and in her current home state of Massachusetts at the Boston City Hall, the Griffin Museum of Photography and the Worcester Art Museum. An interview and profile of her show at the Griffin Museum was produced and aired by ABC's WCVB Chronicle. Recently, the Danforth Museum presented an exhibition of works made by Hernandez during the last six years. Ileana's practice and works have been featured in more than 30 online and print publications, including The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Musee Magazine and Art Scope.
Hernandez was a resident of the inaugural 3-year Studio Residency cohort at the Boston Center for the Arts from 2021-24 and she’s a fellow from the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston and the Collective Futures Fund.
Steve Jacobson is a Massachusetts-based photographer who has been taking pictures for approximately six years. Some of his favorite genres include street photography, architecture, and cityscapes, among others. He enjoys exploring the Boston area and looking for fresh perspectives on familiar scenes. You can find more of Steve’s work on Instagram, at @awakereader.
LeeAnn Raye Law blends indie folk’s intimacy with the cinematic sweep of alternative pop, creating music that feels both tender and unshakable. Rooted in her Louisiana upbringing and shaped by life in New England, her songwriting is as much an act of self-discovery as it is an offering to her listeners. By weaving personal experiences into universal stories, she creates space for reflection, connection, and healing; the same space she cultivates every day in her work as a Board-Certified Music Therapist.
Her debut album captures this duality: vulnerability and strength, heartbreak and hope, the past and the future. Her song CITGO Sign (inspired by the iconic Boston landmark) reflects the city’s spirit of nostalgia, endurance, and belonging. This piece will make its debut as part of the Affordable Art Fair in Boston, bringing her music into conversation with the city’s vibrant visual art scene.
Website: Leeannrayelaw.com
Instagram: @leeannrayemusic
TikTok: @leeann.raye.law
Sherwin Long is an illustrator and freelance artist from Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Illustration from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He has a wide variety of work and a technique that is extremely versatile with mediums ranging from acrylic and watercolor to charcoal and pastel drawings. The size of his work is just as diverse, with small pieces painted on wood surfaces to larger pieces painted on canvas. His work is heavily influenced by the graffiti and murals in his community with a splash of fine art, making his work unique. He is a mainly inspired by music, poetry, spiritually, mythology, and architecture. Sherwin has displayed his work at the State House, City Hall, Museum of Fine arts, a plethora of Boston galleries, in local businesses and libraries. He has also had the opportunity to teach many art classes in his conmmunity. Art has always been his passion and a crucial part of his life since an early age so he enjoys the chance to expand the imagination of young minds. He has also participated in various community organizations and has hosted cultural events in collaboration with other artists in hopes to provide his community with access to view and purchase fine art but also to provide a platform for local artists to display their work.
Darren McCollester is a photographer and painter living in Boston, Massachusetts. He has photographed events around the world, and uses the experiences as material for painting and collage. He is the author of two books.
Morrichal (Sebastian Chalela Morris) is a multidisciplinary creator who works in fine arts, animation, illustration, music, photography, writing, yoga, meditation, and martial arts. He has participated in several art shows in Bogota, his city of origin, Madrid, where he studied his Master’s, and now in Boston, where he currently lives. Several of his books, stories, poems, and comic strips have also been published and won awards.
“Creativity is my tool of choice for self-knowledge and my duty as a conscious being; its processes and results are where I find rest”.
https://morrichal.wixsite.com/arte
IG: @morrichal
NO-WHERES-VILLE (pronounced noh-hwairz-vil) is the creative moniker of Boston-based printmaker and illustrator Matt Paul. Themes of his work are vast and varied - drawing anywhere from the aesthetics of rock ’n’ roll music, how our actions are affecting the natural world, typography and kitschy Americana. Under this self-deprecating title—rhythmic, ironic, and rich with dual meaning—Matt lovingly creates work that challenges notions of perfection, worth, and value.
Through a playful, yet thoughtful lens, NO-WHERES-VILLE turns “a place or situation of no significance, promise or interest,” or “anything unrealistic, impractical or useless” into an aesthetic statement. Each piece is a testament to an often-overlooked world.
Matt Paul’s artwork invites audiences to embrace the otherwise uncelebrated—transforming insignificance into charm, impracticality into intrigue, and nowheresville into a place of purpose.
@no_wheres_ville
Robert Peters is a Mashpee Wampanoag Artist, Poet, and Author.
He published his first book “Da Goodie Monsta” in the fall of 2009. He released Thirteen Moons Calendar: A Meditation on Indigenous Life in 2015 and again in 2020.
“Thirteen Moons” is accompanied by poetry, essays and thoughts - written over a span of twenty years entitled, “A Meditation on Indigenous Life.” It was created to promote understanding and healing among indigenous people everywhere.
In 2024 Robert self-published Big Baby the story of Wampanoag legendary giant Maushop as a baby.
Robert was commissioned to work on three murals in 2021. On Sachem St in Revere MA, in the Freshman dorms at U Mass Boston and a mobile collaboration with three other Native artists honoring Native Boston Marathon runners.
Today Robert continues writing, painting, and working with youth. He is a fire keeper and a keeper of oral tradition.
Adam O’Day
Born in Murfreesboro, TN
BFA in Illustration/Design from The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
His painting studio is in Abington, MA.
He lives in Abington, MA with his wife Meghan and Daughters Penelope and Emerald.
His awards include winner of Boston’s Portrait of a City Contest 2016.
Oneil Pimental grew up in Brazil and moved to Boston in 1999. His work has developed at a very steady pace and at times in a very surprising way. He is self-taught and developed his passion for painting from watching both his grandmother and father paint during the 80’s and 90’s. He started painting in 2001 as a way to escape from the real world and the real problems. At first, his work reflected his thirst for color and warmth in a city where winters can really affect you. However, the long periods of cold weather did not stop him from loving Boston and all it has to offer. That's when he, almost inadvertently, started portraying his surroundings in bold, cheerful and colorful acrylics that bring out the true livelihood behind the Bostonian architecture.
Rick Pinchera is a Boston-based illustrator and designer. He has contributed work to local institutions including MIT, The Boston Red Sox, GBH, Harvard, and The Boston Globe, as well as for larger organizations such as Google, The Humane Society and The Gates Foundation. Rick was recently featured as part of the Rozzie Rats group show, "Heist!" at The Substation in Roslindale.
You can see more of his work at behance.net/rpinchera and by following @rozzie.rats on Instagram.
John Savoia (b. 1986) is a fine arts photographer born and based in Boston.
His work focuses on his neighborhood, family, and everyday feelings.
Melody Wan (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist whose visual work explores themes of emotional resilience, vulnerability, and transformation. Rooted in personal narrative and life experience, her art straddles the line between delicate and unsettling — blending surreal, feminine, and macabre elements while remaining grounded in human connection. Working in both digital and traditional media, Melody’s style continues to evolve, ranging from bold print-inspired compositions to vivid, emotionally charged illustrations. Follow her on Instagram at @cupidfang to see additional works and sketches.