Shawn Michael Laswell, 1972 – 2025, artist known as Spectacle Spectacle

Shawn M. Laswell of Waltham died Thursday, July 24, at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. He was 52.

Laswell was an artist known as Spectacle Spectacle. He was noted for painting old LP records in vivid acrylic hues and displaying them on utility poles throughout the city. He and his mother, Donnal Laswell, also a Waltham artist, created public art including a 400-foot mural on a walkway behind Guanachapi’s.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we must share our very own Spectacle Shawn Laswell has passed,” stated the Waltham Arts Council’s Facebook page. “Former board member and volunteer, he was always bringing the arts to life. Thank you, Shawn, for what words cannot express, expressed through your art.”

He leaves his son, Michael Laswell of Waltham, his parents, William and Donna Laswell of Waltham, and his brother, Glenn Laswell.

Family and friends will honor and remember Shawn’s life by gathering for an evening wake in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham, on Friday, August 15, from 4 to 7 p.m and again at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Mary’s Church, 133 School St., Waltham, where his funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.