Category bronze
Applaud Playground Turtles and their Creators: Nancy Schön and Lilli Ann Killen Rosenberg
Endurance is a quality shared by the turtle sculptures in this post. Lilli Ann Roseberg’s colorful concrete turtles in Cambridge have been ridden, jumped on, snowed in, flooded over and lots more in the past three decades. Nancy Schön’s bronze Myrtle the Turtle was bound up and relocated within Boston’s Myrtle Street Playground soon after settling in last year. These sculptures endured isolation while playgrounds were closed in the spring and then cautiously reopened.
Animal Sculptures by Judy McKie and Jay Coogan Prove Patient, Purposeful and Playful
Judy McKie’s bronze cat benches and Jay Coogan’s aluminum dogs and cats were kept off location during extensive construction of Cambridge Public school and library properties where they had become favorite features. Soon after they returned ready to resume their roles, the closing of all schools and libraries in March 2020 cut short the opportunities for children and adults to interact with them again. Though I had found opportunities to admire and photograph these artful animals, I didn’t want to share the images until the sculptures could be part of daily life once more.
Gardens in Radcliffe Yard Contain Changing and Constant Art
While kept apart from most indoor art throughout the spring of 2020, I became especially grateful for the outdoor art in Radcliffe Yard. I managed to post about one sculpture then, with intentions to mention more. Here now is a broader view that encompasses other highlights of Radcliffe Yard.
James Tyler’s Tower of East Cambridge Faces Holds Power Over Time
My recent post about James Tyler’s Ten Figures in Davis Square led me to search out and visit his fourteen-foot tower of fifty bronze portraits completed in 1986.
Ten Figures by Sculptor James Tyler Keep Masks on in Davis Square
When I feel weary with the prospect of wearing masks for months to come in public, I can now turn to what I learned about the Davis Square statues, who have kept their masks on night and day for more than twenty years!*
Chalk Gives Voice on Days of Action in Cambridge and Somerville
This unplanned post shares fleeting street art from local actions on May 31, 2020. Rain may soon wash these chalk statements away, but there will be more to come.
Spiral Inspired Art for Quincy Square, a Collaboration of David Phillips and Halverson Design
In earlier posts about David Phillips’ art, I noted his collaboration with Halverson Design, but here I’ll let it shape my perspective with quotes from Cambridge Public Art resources about this park that opened in 1997 near Harvard Square.
Marianna Pineda’s Sculptures Create Connections
While museums everywhere, including deCordova Sculpture Park, were closed for the past two months, I began to look more closely at the art that was still accessible in my neighborhood. Fortunately for me that includes the grounds of Harvard University and within those Radcliffe Yard. There among other areas with intriguing art is the Alexandra D. Korry Sculpture Garden around Marianna Pineda’s Oracle Portentous.
Nancy Webb’s Bronze Insects and Plants Became Treasures in Cambridge
I’ve walked through Charles Park before, (on the way to or from CambridgeSide Galleria) without noticing most of nearly forty bronze representations of insects and plants Nancy Webb created almost three decades ago. This week I came to find and focus on them, guided by the Cambridge Public Art Fact Sheet.
David Fichter and David Phillips Honor Community Histories in Public Art
David Phillips is a sculptor; David Fichter is a muralist. With their distinctly different materials, both are masters of rendering historical figures and events. Both have created public art that is densely packed with researched images and documents. As public art, the expansive colorful mural and the tactile intimate bronze relief wait openly for anyone who wants to focus on some sign or scene and make their own associations.
Art Outdoors 