Watertown – For the past two months, Watertown artists Amir Tabatabaei and Niloufar (Nilou) Keyhani have been working nearly non-stop to create a mural that now fully envelops a wall in Merchants Row in Watertown Square. Merchants Row is an alleyway that serves as a popular cut-through from the parking lot behind CVS to Main Street.

Amir and Nilou immigrated to the United States from Iran seven years ago and have called Watertown home for the past six years. They’ve titled the mural “I See a Dream,” a play on Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The mural depicts a utopia with symbols of peace, love, and equality. Amir and Nilou incorporated some surrounding Watertown landmarks into the design, including the Charles River and the Watertown Savings Bank headquarters across the street. They even left elements of the artwork that was previously on the wall which had faded over the years.

The Watertown Community Foundation contributed a grant of $3,200 to help fund the project, but Amir and Nilou have been paying for much of the costs out of their own pocket. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help them cover the costs. Over $4,000 have been raised in the first three days of the campaign going live.

View the GoFundMe campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-watertown-artists-amir-and-nilou?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=next-door

A reception for the mural is expected to take place some time in September.

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