Category history
Admire Animals by Artist Katharine Lane Weems in Boston: Dogs, Dolphins, Rhinos and More
The more I learn about sculpture by Katharine Lane Weems (1898 — 1989), the more I admire the art, the artist and the animals. An earlier post about two rhinos, Bess and Victoria, installed 1937 in Cambridge led me on to sites in Boston with work by this artist “famous for her realistic portrayals of animals.” Her art combined scientific accuracy, meticulous renderings, and creative design to bring out the animals’ majesty and character. This post notes four places in Boston to be in the presence of her elegant animals.
Nancy Winship Milliken, Pasture Song, plus Earth Press Project: Witness
Pasture Song at deCordova, was originally scheduled to depart this summer. What great news that it will stay another year! ….Meanwhile another time-sensitive matter has sped up my posting about Nancy Milliken’s work. That is Earth-Press Project: Witness, which calls on all of us to each offer one word that might be imprinted in an adobe block of earth for an installation at Minute-Man National Historic Park in Lincoln.
Tufts’ Monumental Mascot: Jumbo by Steven Whyte
The first time I saw Steven Whyte’s Jumbo statue on the Tufts University campus I had big plans to post about it. That was in April 2015 when it was first installed and celebrated. Now four years including several visits later, I know that the massive range of Jumbo’s stories kept me from a decisive post. Today I’ll try to step back and share a bit of the big picture.
Men in Cambridge Made by Women: Anne Whitney and Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson
The statues of Charles Sumner and the Hiker both connect to stories worth telling, well told in the quotes below. The Sumner statue story leads back to a much earlier Boston proposal that was rejected because the artist Anne Whitney was a woman. The Hiker statue story leads on to a much later time when fifty bronze replicas of Kitson’s original around the country became part of a scientific study.
Delight in temporary addition to Arts on the Line from 1983 at Porter Square T
Large lovely new nests rest on granite posts designed decades ago by William Reimann.
Please help me solve the mystery of who created the nests!
Eager for any clues or comments,
Deb Lee
Deborah.lee713@gmail.com
Monumental Sculptures by Fern Cunningham and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Combined Forces in Harriet Tubman Square
In recent years I had walked among these two monumental bronze sculptures in Harriet Tubman Square Park without appreciating how and when they had come together. Now I can offer valuable links for their significant stories that should be savored by you, instead of summarized by me.
IMAGINE (aka Sneha Shrestha) Shares Wondrous Ways to Brighten Brick, as in her Very Tall Mural in Cambridge
Here are images from my visits to IMAGINE’s recently completed mural in Cambridge and a few quotes from sources that describe her art. I hope that these will lead you to sites with fascinating scenes and stories that engage you in her process, purpose and perspective!
Steve Locke’s Temporary Art Makes Lasting Connections
This is my temporary post, mainly to let people in the Boston area know that Steve Locke’s temporary art will be gone from the Gardner’s front facade after January 21, 2019. If you can pause in its presence before entering the museum and again after leaving, you can sense its strength as a memorial. Yet if you miss that opportunity, you can still connect the stories of how the memorial for Freddie Gray came to be.
Art Above Us: Cambridge Murals by David Fichter and Be Sargent
Almost caught up with some recent temporary art, I’ll share some views of three murals in my home city, Cambridge. Two, by Be Sargent, have been here for nearly twenty years. One, by David Fichter, has been for fourteen. All three begin above eye-level, so I had seldom made eye contact with the animals or people depicted.
Neighbors, Nature and Time Play Great Parts in Art by Christopher Frost: Colony and Much More
After two visits in the past month, I hope to make many more in the three seasons ahead before Colony leaves its maple tree on the Minuteman Bikeway. The photos in this post are mine but the links below will lead to more varied and vivid ones, including the installation process. The quotes below also give background about Christopher Frost and will suggest why I have seized the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for his spirited splendid sculpture!
Art Outdoors 