Boston’s public art scene is on fire. Urban innovation has quickly become one of the hallmarks of Mayor Marty Walsh’s administration, and within that lies public art. From parklets to tech-laden art, creativity and reimagining abound. Adding to this effort is the New England Foundation for the Arts, which awarded about $60,000 in grants to fund new Greater Boston public art projects.
BostInno spoke with Sarah Hutt, NEFA’s public art program consultant and former director of the Boston Art Commission, to find out what sets the five award-winning projects apart. Generally for contemporary public art to be successful and worth funding, it has to be engaging and incite community involvement.
“We must be able to respond to the changes in the way art is received in the community,” Hutt told BostInno. “This isn’t about putting a statue at an intersection and nobody will remember who it is. They want to have art that’s really in view of the neighborhood.”
The five projects will be implemented in various Greater Boston areas including Grove Hall, Fort Point, along the Rose Kennedy Greenway and in nearby Watertown.
The first project is an artist-in-residency program, which will bring an artist on-site, who will then spend time creating a piece of temporary art. The frontrunner for a work to be installed is a ping pong table.
“Sometimes you need a catalyst to go into the neighborhood to bring people out,” continued Hutt. “We’re trying to take the traditional artist-in-residency in model and twist it.”
Fort Point is slated to be the home to three more pieces of art, going along with the variety already there. The up-and-coming Innovation District neighborhood has blossomed into one of the city’s most artistic areas, and is an example of fostering private-public partnerships for the betterment of the community.
According to NEFA, works in Fort Point “may include site-specific performances with a visual arts component and other artistic engagements.”
The third grant will be put towards creating an app-guided tour of the Grove Hall area straddling Roxbury and Dorchester. The recent recipient of Wicked Free Wi-Fi, Grove Hall is one of the most historic yet inaccessible regions of Boston. To bolster this notion, the grant will be used for building a non-traditional app, focused more on art than tech.
“Rather than just use clip art pictures,” added Hutt, “they’re bringing artists in to actually make a portrait of the neighborhood and the area.”
Already teeming with public art, civic innovations and an abundance of pedestrians, the Rose Kennedy Greenway will host soft woven-fabric sculptures over some of its sections.
And finally, a massive community-driven mural will be painted in Watertown to revitalize one of its more industrial areas. The thought is to help Watertown residents “reclaim their neighborhood,” says Hutt, after the tragic Boston Marathon bombings over a year ago. Though the mural has nothing to do with the infamous incident, it’s a way to liven the minds of those still deeply affected by it.
Gregg Bernstein will be teaming up with Watertown high schoolers to garner design ideas, as well as for help with setup, color mixing, painting and cleanup.
Stay tuned to BostInno for more information about the projects, for designs and renderings, and for updates on Boston’s public art. In the meantime, let us know some of your favorite public works in the comments section below.
