Category landscape architecture
Cheer for Changes in One Tree through Several Holidays and Seasons
Here is my record of seasonal decorations in the front yard of a historical house near me in Cambridge: William James House at 95 Irving Street. Most of the photos here focus on the tree and fence, though the steps, porch, and roof have also been transformed for several holidays. This post just keeps track of the leaves, blossoms, lawn, and snowfall as they interact with holiday shapes and colors people placed within the landscape.
Artists Ekua Holmes and Elizabeth James-Perry Bring MFA Lawn to Life with “Garden for Boston”
Whether or not you go inside the Museum of Fine Arts, on the front lawn you will find rich offerings by artists and curators attentive to soil, sun, sea, community, and history. One morning in early August, I joined other visitors enthralled by plantings and perspective in the collaborative venture called “Garden for Boston.” Delighted by discoveries, I’ll share a few of my iPhone photos with quotes from enlightening resources on the MFA website and other specified links.
Restored and New Art Combine in Renovated Clarendon Avenue Playground: Bronze Birds by Juliet Kepes with Leaf-Pattern Fence by Bart Uchida
In 1980, artist Juliet Kepes designed five bronze birds for the brick walls of Clarendon Avenue Park in Cambridge. A longtime admirer of her children’s book illustration, I wasn’t aware of her range of creative work until a few years ago when I read the Cambridge Arts/ Public Art listing below. By the time I managed to visit the park in 2019, it was closed off for extended renovations after almost forty years of use. ….
Recently I learned that the renovated park had opened, so I headed there one early evening in July. The bronze birds were back, set against a stone wall that replaced their brick background. Floral plantings enhanced their new setting, with the promising addition of a flowing plant-patterned fence that certainly added to my appreciation of the whole park.
Art Grows from Trees: Alan Sonfist and Richard Rosenblum at deCordova
Sonfist’s The Endangered Species of New England has been part of the Sculpture Park since 2013. Rosenblum’s Venusvine, created 1990, has been there since 1996. Both artworks reflect their artists’ deeply rooted work with trees. Both are metal renderings of natural forms. Both artworks have decisive locations in the park. They’ve held their ground while other artworks have moved around, left or entered in recent years.
Artists Help Us Learn from Trees: Maren Hassinger and Josephine Halvorson at deCordova Sculpture Park
Josephine Halvorson’s Measure (Tree) and Maren Hassinger’s Monuments 3 and 6 have expanded my range in relating to trees. That is true for several other artworks at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, so I’ll hope to follow up in future posts with more examples. But I’ll start with these two artists because their processes give specific attention to trees. Measure (Tree) involved the artist in close observation while painting a tree’s elements onto a wooden plank. Both Monuments involved many people in carefully weaving assorted branches of local trees into geometric structures and patterns. Quotes from the Trustees website explain more. Links to each artist’s site offer context. My photos give glimpses of the presence of these artworks among trees in the park in different seasons.
Respond to the Spirit of Art Ramble around Fairyland Pond in Concord
My goal now is to get the word out about a wonderful way to get away, though this temporary exhibit in Concord’s Hapgood Wright Town Forest won’t let you get away from the issues of climate change. I went once last week and hope to return as often as possible before the last day, November 8. I hope to post again with more photos and reflections on water, but here are quotes and links to lead you into the forest, around the pond, with art and poetry.
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.
Playgrounds Thrive on Art by Mitch Ryerson and Gail Boyajian
As playgrounds have cautiously reopened, I can happily share photos of art by Mitch Ryerson and Gail Boyajian. This lifts my own sad restrictions on earlier posts about these artists and others with work outside Maud Morgan Arts. Now I can show and celebrate art that was meant to be where children play.
Randal Thurston’s Birds and Butterflies Guide Our Ways through Yerxa Road Underpass in Cambridge
Maybe best to show some of what I have seen lately along this pertinent passageway without trying to explain why I didn’t post earlier. I hope the links and quotes will give you ways to appreciate the efforts and effects of this public art project completed in 2006.
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.
Art Outdoors 