Power Up: Aly Becker

Photos by Brandon Gray

“Keep Going, Keep Growing.”

Aly Becker’s vibrant floral mural in Bell Park is a beacon of hope—a call to keep trudging through the uncertainty that is 2020.

Born in Espanola, Aly moved to Sudbury in 2012 for school, starting in civil engineering and winding up in graphic design. Since graduating, she’s worked in her field, in photography, and “all the odd jobs in between!”

Inspiration for this piece flowed from the unique situation we’ve all found ourselves in this year, and from a few regular sources of ideas: a little online browsing, old work and books, and looking around the city itself. Her process goes something like this: sketch, erase, sketch, erase, panic. She says she’s just kidding (but only kind of). Known for her striking hand-lettered artwork, this mural started with the phrase, before growing into a veritable bouquet of hope.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses though; Aly had a baby in late January and had been off work for several months. She had to work through withering heat, followed by heavy downpours, all while trying to get back into her creative groove.

“It was an interesting process that left me crawling back to the meaning of my piece. I definitely had to keep going to keep growing and this project allowed me to reunite with my love of creating.”
— Aly Becker