• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CANNABIS + CANVASES

Written by CITIZEN STRAIN Posted February 8, 2022 Filed Under: Cannabis, Talking Joints Memo

From branded cans to dispensary galleries, things are looking mighty colorful


As anyone who’s ever smoked a joint is well aware, cannabis and art go hand-in-hand. There are even studies about it and stuff, presumably conducted by people who were unable to just listen to an album sober and then listen to it stoned and then evaluate the difference. But I digress … 

It’s no secret that emerging brands, including those in the recreational weed space, are all about artist collaborations. On the visual art front, the cannabis packaging rat race has yielded mini galleries in glass cases across the Commonwealth, as edible and even bud boxes and containers are increasingly colorful.

This week, let’s first turn to Levia, the Mass-born cannabis-infused seltzer brand that, at this point, we suspect will eventually be as much a household name as Sam Adams. In addition to “bringing the sunshine a bit early this year as they announce the launch of their spring seasonal flavor, Orange Blossom,” they also enlisted Mass-based illustrator Dean McKeever “to conceptualize and design the innovative label, where warm colors, a female focal point, and a sense of beauty were the inspiration behind the illustration.” The result is truly gorgeous, something to put on your shelf after you suck all the nectar out of it.

On the actual dispensary side of things, frequent visitors to any number of pot shops across Mass may have noticed how bright the walls are, as several companies have brought in local artists to liven things up. As we reported last year, Seed in Jamaica Plain has the incredible Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum that you ought to check out whether you consume or not. Among the installations there, one interactive exhibit allows heads to “immerse in the hypocrisy of America’s fractured relationship with cannabis.” You can step inside of a cell, which has doors “sourced from a 1930s prison in Belmont,” and where a video plays the tragic drug war story of Peter Tosh’s son Jawara as told by his older sister Niambe McIntosh, a member of the Core museum’s curating council.

And out in Western Mass, this month our friends at the always inventive Canna Provisions are featuring Amanda Brough as their featured artist, and the color-on-black pieces hanging on the walls are worth more than a look. Weed aficionados often drive out to these dispensaries near the New York border to grab items from the Smash Hits line bred by cannabis icon Chemdog (which also has some seriously collectible packaging), but chances are a few of them will also leave with Brough’s hit illustrations too.

“There’s something about blocking off different colors with funky playful hidden details that I just really enjoy,” the artist explains. “My first painting was called ‘Stay Weird,’ and I feel like the rest of my paintings also carry suit. Some others for example are named ‘Who Cares’ or ‘Stay Wild,’ which reinforce my overall viewpoint to remain true to your inner child and have fun. I love incorporating bright colors against the black because it’s so polar opposite that it just works. Sometimes you need a little color in this dark world.”

And it doesn’t hurt to have some weed either.


 

CITIZEN STRAIN

Citizen Strain/Grain is an amalgamation of a bunch of us who, in addition to the hard and oftentimes depressing journalism we report for the Dig, also enjoy sampling and writing about the various beers, spirits, and cannabis products that vendors from near and far send our way. If you want us to check out your product, please contact us at [email protected]

Related posts
  • CITIZEN STRAIN
    https://digboston.com/author/citizen-strain/
    Meet Ericca Kennedy Of the State-Licensed Delivery Service Doobie
  • CITIZEN STRAIN
    https://digboston.com/author/citizen-strain/
    Do You Want To Work For the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission?
  • CITIZEN STRAIN
    https://digboston.com/author/citizen-strain/
    Dig This: Mother’s Day With Beer At Night Shift
  • CITIZEN STRAIN
    https://digboston.com/author/citizen-strain/
    Worcester Human Rights Commission Requests Study On Psilocybin Arrests

Filed Under: Cannabis, Talking Joints Memo Tagged With: Art, cannabis, Dispensaries

WHAT’S NEW

We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical

We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical

Photo by Mike Connolly

Opinion: Defending the Right to Abortion

Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activist On Trial This Morning In Plymouth

Longtime Anti-Nuclear Activist On Trial This Morning In Plymouth

The ACLU's Critical "Do You Know Who Your Sheriff Is?" Campaign

The ACLU’s Critical “Do You Know Who Your Sheriff Is?” Campaign

Sacred Spaces: Special Mosque Edition

Sacred Spaces: Special Mosque Edition

“Stop Abortion Bans Now” by Fibonacci Blue. CC-BY 2.0. Original photo cropped for the Somerville Wire by Jason Pramas.

OPINION: R.I.P. ROE?

Primary Sidebar

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • We Turned the North End Restaurant Lawsuit Against Mayor Wu Into a Musical
  • Do You Want To Work For the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission?
  • DigBoston box among the boxes of defunct newspapers in Union Square, Somerville, Mass. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2022 Jason Pramas. EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SUSPENDING PRINT EDITION, GOING DIGITAL-ONLY (AGAIN)
  • Inbox: Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns To Boston Waterfront
  • How Long Can Major Cannabis Cultivators Sustain Massive Indoor Grows In Mass?

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 24.08 – 04/21/22

Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]