Category Installations

Celestial Garden in Dewey Square Connects WINTERACTIVE with Greenway Public Art

Enticing, exciting ,engaging, Celestial Garden is one of fifteen artworks installed for WINTERACTIVE 2025 through March 30. Celestial Garden’s graceful interplay of music, motion, and mystery invited me to explore around the largest sphere and peer through the portals at the shifting scenes inside. I’m eager to return and to visit other WINTERACTIVE art as well! Quotes and links here offer information and perspective to guide you through a rewarding experience.

Gallery 344 Exhibit Conveys the Pleasures and Promise of Public Art Outdoors

The four walls of what had once seemed to me a small gallery created an expansive sense of life outdoors with lots to enjoy, discover, and create. The enticing exhibit inspired this sudden post to note the remaining window of opportunity to visit ( till February 7) and the valuable resources about the whole impressive ongoing project. Quotes and links below:

“Hatchlings” Offer Even More Ways to Enjoy the Greenway This Winter

Walking a snow-covered stretch of the Greenway for an hour in late December, I got to visit seven of nine Hatchlings* with increased appreciation at each site! Certainly now I want to see and revisit them all many times before they leave in late February. This quick post with notes and quotes aims to urge anyone who can do a winter walk in Boston to enjoy them too. For everyone else, the resources here offer intriguing information about their origin, presence, and potential as public art. *including two initially on the Esplanade

Mosaic Mural at Drake Village Features Local Wetlands Plants and Animals

Quotes, Video, Photos and Resources here, with hopes to follow up about this impressive project:
“In our last mural celebration this season, a ribbon-cutting was held at Drake Village in Arlington Heights — site of an installation of large-scale mosaics created in an inspiring collaboration of senior residents and Arlington Public High School Students. ” (quote from ARTS ARLINGTON newsletter Dec 2024)

Tribute to Very Temporary Art on Halloween

Though I have sometimes posted about temporary art*, .this is my first focus on how it is part of what happens in my neighborhood on Halloween. Every Labor Day, by a recent tradition, neighbors of all ages meet to propose, discuss, consider and then vote to choose a Halloween theme. This allows several weeks for families, individuals and groups to plan and create amazing artworks that connect our homes for one brief energetic evening.

View Jeffrey Gibson’s Dewey Square Mural in Progress; Then Celebrate Completion Sept 19!

Photos, Quotes, Links and Notes for the First Month of the Tenth Mural on the Air-intake Building, Dewey Square, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston”If you’re walking through Dewey Square next week, you may notice crews near the mural wall. They’re there to paint our new Dewey Square mural, “your spirit whispering in my ear” by Jeffrey Gibson! The painting of the mural is always a wonderful communal experience where people come to watch a new piece of art come to life, so feel free to pull up a chair and watch the process.”

Creative Actions Add Valued Shade for Summer Days in Cambridge

Mid-August weather urged me to share what I have seen and learned so far about Shade is Social Justice structures in Cambridge. Here is a quick post with photos, quotes, and links to explore before a promised sequel post with something more.

Explore Winchester Riverwalk Exhibit: Sculpture and Augmented Reality through October 2024

One Visit Revealed at Least Twenty More Great Reasons to Return!
This post is focused on the four “anchors” of the exhibit: sculptures by R. Douglas Rice, David Adilman, Chris Plaisted, and John BonSignore. Links to each artist’s website are listed under KEY RESOURCES.
Soon I hope to focus on the thirteen listed Augmented Reality sites plus several other enticing sidelights* of Winchester Riverwalk. * plants, animals, water structures, photo cubes, art tiles

Uplifting Updates about Hayward Zwerling’s Interactive Artworks: Giraffes and Elephant on Bike Path

George the Giraffe, Big Poppy, and Elly the Elephant still grace the Somerville Community Path on both sides of the Cedar Street intersection. More than five years have passed since they first mysteriously appeared.All three bright sturdy animal characters continue to turn delighted heads of people passing, in familiar greeting or surprise! Bikers, walkers, runners, and school groups still stop by to set them in motion, with a reliable, satisfying sense of effort. Now finally I feel free to confirm that Hayward Zwerling created them! A recent Globe article, April 2024, by Spencer Buell reveals their stories, with great supporting photos.My main goal here is to enthusiastically share links to the Globe article* and to valuable related resources ( videos, context) on Hayward Zwerling’s website.

Connect with “Tapped-In” Outdoors, Indoors, and Online

This second post about “TAPPED IN” opens with an update about important connections between the outdoor installation and the indoor gallery space. The indoor gallery presented images, materials and explanatory text for each outdoor artwork and the whole exhibit theme. In early May, all indoor elements for “TAPPED IN” gave way to a different exhibit in the gallery space. All outdoor art remains up through June 8. Key resources* for “TAPPED IN” continue on the Umbrella Arts website. However, one of the ten artist-scientist pairs’ work was only represented in the indoor space. That was the compelling wall display by Ilana Manolson with  Janine Benyus.