About the Murals

Painted on two large-scale vent structures along Broad Canal Way, these murals celebrate the legacy of innovation in Cambridge – past, present, and future. The murals are inspired by sites and stories along the Innovation Trail and honor visionary scientists, artists, and everyday people whose ideas have shaped the world. (You can find the murals by navigating to 11 Broad Canal Way, near the Glass House restaurant and Paddle Boston kayak rentals.)

Commissioned by BioMed Realty, in partnership with The Innovation Trail, artist Yetti Frenkel blends portraiture, science, technology, and local culture to tell a dynamic, colorful story of discovery.

Mural Descriptions

Vent One: Science & Imagination (Canal End of Broad Canal Way)

This mural explores themes of scientific discovery—from cutting-edge cancer therapies to space travel—and celebrates the innovators who made them possible.

Front (Facing Broad Canal Way)

Top Left: Paula Hammond, PhD

Paula Hammond, PhD, is an Institute Professor at MIT and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She’s a leader in nanotechnology, developing microscopic particles that deliver cancer drugs, help wounds heal faster, and improve the effectiveness of vaccines. Her work sits at the intersection of innovation, engineering, and medicine — and much of it happens right here in Kendall Square.

Bottom Left: Lab Central Researcher

A researcher at LabCentral, a nonprofit in Cambridge that supports biotech startups. LabCentral is an incubator for the next generation of scientific breakthroughs, providing lab space and support to entrepreneurs working on treatments, diagnostics, and other life sciences innovations.
See more information about this site at Innovation Trail Stop 20: Instant Photos (LabCentral).

Right Side: Vaccination

Images honoring vaccination: the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine developed in Cambridge, a nurse preparing a syringe, and two people proudly showing their vaccinated arms. Together, these images represent the power of science and public health to protect communities.
See more information about these developments at Innovation Trail Stop 19: Vaccine Breakthroughs (Moderna).

Left Side

Top: Edwin Land

Edwin H. Land, the visionary behind the Polaroid instant camera, transformed photography by eliminating the need for film development. His innovation condensed darkroom processing into a single unit, producing a photograph within seconds. Land, who co-founded Polaroid and held over 500 patents, was one of Cambridge’s most prolific inventors.
See more information about this innovator at Innovation Trail Stop 20: Instant Photos (LabCentral).

Middle: Dog and Wolf

The boxer dog named Tasha and a wolf represent the mapping of the dog genome. In 2005, an international team led by researchers at the Broad Institute in Cambridge sequenced Tasha’s genome, deepening our understanding of genetics and the link between dogs and their wild ancestors. And yes—all domestic dogs are descended from wolves.
See more information about this project at Innovation Trail Stop 14: Broad Discovery Center.

Bottom: Lotus Development Corporation

A lotus flower symbolizes Lotus Development Corporation, the company that created Lotus 1-2-3, one of the earliest and most influential spreadsheet applications. Released in 1983, it was the first to run on IBM PCs and helped usher in the age of personal computing.
See more information about this site at Innovation Trail Stop 10: Entrepreneur’s Walk of Fame.

Right Side

Top: Museum of Science

The Museum of Science was founded in 1830 as the Boston Society of Natural History, and originally it was a next-door neighbor of MIT’s in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. It moved to this site on the Charles River Dam in 1951, where over 700 interactive exhibits are housed. The museum features a number of live and interactive presentations, along with shows at the Charles Hayden Planetarium and the Mugar Omni Theater.
See more information about this site at Innovation Trail Stop 8: Museum of Science.

Middle and Bottom: Atlas and Spot

The humanoid Atlas robot plays fetch with Spot the robot dog, on the banks of the Charles River. The company that makes these two robots, Boston Dynamics, was founded by a former MIT professor, Marc Raibert, who started building walking robots in the 1980s. (A kayaker who may have set out from the Broad Canal, right near this mural, can be seen over Atlas’ shoulder.) Both Atlas and Spot are on display at the Museum of Science, as of mid-2025.

Back

Top: Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton, an MIT software engineer, led the team that created the onboard software for NASA’s Apollo missions. Her rigorous approach to error-proof code was critical to the success of the moon landing. She is shown with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to her for her pioneering work.
See more information about this innovator at Innovation Trail Stop 18: Getting to the Moon (Draper Lab).

Middle: Apollo 11

The moon and the Apollo 11 command module mark the historic 1969 mission that landed the first humans on the lunar surface. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon while Michael Collins remained in orbit. The astronauts are depicted together in the mural.
See more information about this development at Innovation Trail Stop 18: Getting to the Moon (Draper Lab).

Bottom: The Next Generation

Children are shown playing and exploring—representing the creativity, wonder, and curiosity that fuel innovation. They symbolize the next generation of thinkers, builders, and dreamers.

Vent Two: Nature, Culture, and Community (Closest to Third Street)

This mural reflects the full spectrum of innovation, from scientific discovery and public health to literature, invention, food, and humor. It celebrates how new ideas emerge not just in labs and lecture halls, but also in kitchens, radio studios, and city streets.

Front (Facing Third Street)

Top: Asa Gray

Asa Gray (1810–1888) was one of America’s foremost botanists and a staunch supporter of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. His work helped shape the field of plant geography. Behind him is the Asa Gray Garden at Mount Auburn Cemetery, where he is buried alongside other Cambridge innovators.

Bottom Left: Gray’s Lily

Gray’s Lily, discovered by Asa Gray in the Appalachian Mountains in 1840 and named in his honor, reflects his legacy in the natural sciences.

Bottom Right: Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse

Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse (1754–1846), co-founder of Harvard Medical School, was the first U.S. doctor to test the smallpox vaccine. He is shown with a bifurcated needle—the tool used to administer the vaccine. The mural includes a quote from Bishop Isaac Maddox, who advocated for inoculation during the 18th century. Smallpox is the only human infectious disease ever eradicated, a global achievement made possible by vaccination.
See more information about early vaccines at Innovation Trail Stop 4: Combating an Epidemic.

Left Side

Top Left: Julia Child

Julia Child (1912-2004) lived for decades at 103 Irving Street in Cambridge, where she tested recipes, hosted lively dinners, and filmed episodes of The French Chef. Her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her WGBH show helped introduce French cuisine to American kitchens. Her Cambridge kitchen was so iconic that it has been moved into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Top Right: Ellen Swallow Richards

Ellen Swallow Richards (1842–1911) was the first woman admitted to MIT, and later its first female instructor. She founded the home economics movement and pioneered the application of chemistry to everyday life, including nutrition, sanitation, and environmental health.
See more information about this innovator at Beyond the Trail Stop: Ellen Swallow Richards House (not open to the public).

Middle: Rumford Baking Powder

Rumford Baking Powder, created by Harvard professor Eben Horsford, helped standardize and simplify home baking in the mid-1800s. Horsford patented a method for producing calcium acid phosphate, the key ingredient that made baking powder shelf-stable and widely available.

Bottom: Necco Candies

Necco Conversation Hearts, produced by the New England Confectionery Company, were once made in Cambridge along a stretch of Main Street known as Confectioner’s Row. These iconic candies are a reminder of the city’s industrial and cultural history.
See more information about candy-making in Cambridge at Innovation Trail Stop 21: The Last Candy Factory.

Right Side

The Human Genome Project

A young girl holds a colorful paper chain of people, symbolizing the human family in all its diversity. Beside her is a DNA double helix, the Human Genome Project logo, and a series of chromosomes. The mural captures the scale and impact of the effort to map the entire human genetic code—a project that revolutionized biology and medicine.
See more information about this development at Innovation Trail Stop 15: Human Genome Project.

Back

Top Left: Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, made the first “long distance” phone call in 1876 between Boston and Cambridge — just 2.5 miles apart. His invention forever changed how people communicate. Below Bell’s portrait, two boys use tin can phones, a playful nod to the roots of curiosity and invention.
See more information about this innovator at Innovation Trail Stop 5: Inventing the Telephone.

Top Right: Evolution of the Telephone

A series of phones—from candlestick to rotary to the TARDIS police phone box—shows how communication technology has evolved over time.
See more information about this innovation at Innovation Trail Stop 5: Inventing the Telephone.

Middle: Elias Howe

Elias Howe (1819–1867), a Cambridge-based mechanic and inventor, created the lockstitch sewing machine. His design placed the needle’s eye at the point, allowing it to loop thread in a way that revolutionized garment production and is still used in modern machines.

Lower Section: Elizabeth Bishop and Louise Glück

Two poets appear side by side: Elizabeth Bishop, who taught at Harvard and wrote about loss and memory, and Louise Glück, a Nobel Prize winner and longtime Cambridge resident whose poems explored mortality, transformation, and beauty. Their works are paired in the mural as meditations on grief and renewal.

Bottom Left: Tom and Ray Magliozzi

Click and Clack — Tom and Ray Magliozzi — were MIT graduates and hosts of NPR’s Car Talk, launched in 1977. Their hilarious, down-to-earth advice about cars and life earned them a devoted national following and made them local legends. (They also delivered the MIT commerncement address in 1999.)

Bottom Right: W.E.B Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), the first Black man to earn a doctorate from Harvard, was a sociologist, civil rights activist, and one of the founders of the NAACP. He spent his life fighting for racial justice and access to education.

About the Artist

Yetti Frenkel is a Massachusetts artist known for her work inspired by her hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts. Her public artwork includes murals for the children’s departments of multiple public libraries, and murals and mosaics for communities and organizations. Her sculptural work, including sculptural mosaics and bronzes, have been displayed in numerous locations in New England.

For more of Yetti’s work, see her website. Yetti would like to thank Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta, co-authors of the book Born in Cambridge, for their help and guidance on this project.

About the Mural Supporters

BioMed Realty provides space and infrastructure for individuals and companies to work towards the next great innovation in life sciences, technology, and human health. They manage over 17 million square feet of lab and workspace across the United States and United Kingdom. 

The Innovation Trail is a nonprofit organization focused on chronicling four centuries of Boston-area breakthroughs in science, technology, medicine, and more. While Boston is more well-known for its Revolutionary history, the Innovation Trail shares the fascinating sites and stories of the innovators and innovations that made Boston the city it is today. The Innovation Trail offers self-guided tours, walking tours, and special events throughout the year.