David Phillips’ “Bridge” 2022 ( left) recently joined “Tony’s Bench” 2017 (center) and “Scrolls” 2017 (right) along St. Botolph Street on New England Conservatory campus. These are three of several sculptures funded by Tony Lopes (1940-2013) or his estate.

My Saturday afternoon visit to David Phillip’s sculptures along St. Botolph Street was a perfect time to see many young students with string instruments heading to or from lessons and rehearsals. The transported instruments heightened my awareness that each sculpture referenced parts of cellos and violins. This post includes a few photos from that October day plus quotes and links with background and pertinent information about the artist’s work. Quotes among the photos all come from one source, which gives perspective on the funding by Tony Lopes for David Phillips’ art: “Sandwich Artist Creates Sculptures For New England Conservatory” by JOANNE BRIANA-GARTNER in Cape News, Sept 2022

“Bridge” 2022 aluminum, painted (Conservatory color)

“The three pieces* are coming to fruition through the generosity of the late Tony Lopes of Brookline, who reached out to Mr. Phillips in 2011, offering to finance several pieces of public art. ..“Bridge,” consisting of a large metal cello bridge…“ *referencing “Bridge” and two new indoor artworks in 2022

“Eight feet tall, painted a deep yellow and created from metal arranged in a woven pattern that creates square space between the weft and the warp, “Bridge” will be lit from within when it is placed on St. Botolph Street, where it will be a complementary piece to “Scrolls,” another metal sculpture based on the neck of a violin and lit from within.”

“Scrolls” 2017 stainless steel

“Tony’s Bench” 2017

“Mr. Lopes taught elementary school art in the Framingham School District for more than 30 years.“

““He was a popular teacher and also did his own artwork, woodblock prints, paintings and drawings,” Mr. Phillips said. “When he retired, he loved going to concerts and hearing orchestras, mostly classical, and he would also just walk around Boston, looking at public art. He happened to see some of my art, and so I got a call from him saying that he liked my work and ‘Let’s have a drink sometime.’”

“May Tony’s example inspire a few younger artists to work hard with the hope that something nice like this could happen to them.”(quote from David Phillips in email message Nov 14, 2022)

“An accomplished and award-winning sculptor, Mr. Phillips’s work can be seen in many outdoor locations including Eastport Park in Boston, Quincy Square Park in Cambridge, Battery Park in New York, City Square Park in Charlestown and the University of Southern Maine in Portland. In Boston, Mr. Phillips may be best known for his bronze sculptures of anthropomorphic frogs that sit alongside the frog pond in Boston Common.“

A related post in the near future should focus on additional art by David Phillips with funding from the late Tony Lopes. Earlier posts on ART OUTDOORS about his sculptures include: SPIRAL INSPIRED ART FOR QUINCY SQUARE, A COLLABORATION OF DAVID PHILLIPS AND HALVERSON DESIGN, DAVID PHILLIPS LINKS EARTH AND SKY AT MAUD MORGAN ARTS, DAVID FICHTER AND DAVID PHILLIPS HONOR COMMUNITY HISTORIES IN PUBLIC ART. DAVID PHILLIPS’ ART ENGAGES ALL AGES AT PLAYSPACE ON THE ESPLANADE

Key Resources

“Sandwich Artist Creates Sculptures For New England Conservatory” by JOANNE BRIANA-GARTNER in Cape News, Sept 2022

David Phillips Sculpture: http://phillipssculpture.com