On Monday morning, the “Dear Boston: Messages from the Marathon Memorial” exhibit will open at the Boston Public Library. The display will feature a number of artifacts taken from the makeshift memorial erected on Bolyston Street after last year’s tragic Marathon bombing.
Mayor Marty Walsh is expected to be in attendance to cut the ceremonial ribbon and speak a few words. Once he kicks off the exhibit, curated independently by Rainey Tisdale, it will stay open until May 11.
“Dear Boston represents our strength and solidarity not only as a city, but also as a community that supports one another through even the most difficult of times,” said Mayor Walsh previously in a statement. “I encourage people – residents and visitors alike – to visit the exhibition, experience the resilience of the people of Boston, and view the messages of hope and healing.”
The various notes, signs, marathon bibs, running shoes and stuffed animals left on Boylston to commemorate those killed and injured had since been taken to a storage facility in nearby Northborough. A BAA spokesperson confirmed to BostInno that the amount of tokens left behind grew to be so expansive that the BPL exhibit will feature not even half of them. The rest will remain at the storage facility until further notice, though plenty of written items, like personal letters and signs, as well as photos and videos, have been digitally catalogued in Northeastern University’s online exhibit Our Marathon.
Four white crosses representing the lives of those taken due to the Marathon bombings and the aftermath will anchor the library’s display. Martin Richard, 8, Lu Lingzi, 23 and Krystle Campbell, 29, were all killed due to the dual pressure cooker combustions that also maimed 264 others. MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot while sitting in his patrol car allegedly by the suspected bombers just days after the explosions tore through the Back Bay.
Doors to the exhibit are slated to open Monday morning around 11 a.m., at which point Mayor Walsh will cut the ribbon and offer remarks.
