Category temporary art

Temporary Art Leads to Ongoing Information from Harvard Museums of Science and Culture: PLAZA PAINT PROJECT

The person I saw painting attractive images on Science Center Plaza said she was not an artist, but she was creating interactive art to engage people with rich resources from the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture while the physical doors are still closed to visitors. She noted that the paintings on the plaza would be power-washed away in a few weeks. So once again I’ll post quickly to speed the news about temporary art  before it goes.

Many People Play a Part in Art Installation by Nilou Moochhala in Menotomy Rocks Park, Arlington

I wish my words or photos could convey the sense of being in the presence of this important installation in Menotomy Rocks Park. Certainly I want to return there and to get others in or near Arlington to go too. Also I want people who can’t go to still appreciate the energies, organization, and interplay involved in such ventures. So I offer this quick post now with links and quotes that might lead you further in than I’ve yet been

Artists Resa Blatman and Christopher Frost Keep Up our Connections with Birds on the Bike Path

To follow up on earlier posts, here are views from recent rides ( June 2021) on the bike path through Arlington and Somerville, plus links to rich resources about both artists and community arts organizations.

Look Up at Significant Symbols in Concord for the Umbrella ARTFEST

The two photos above are from installations I had hoped to include in my quick post about ARTFEST a week earlier. Both installations interact with varying light, air currents above, and beings below. In this promised swift sequel I try to offer photos, quotes, and links that will lead you closer to those experiences online or in person.

Connect to Concord with “Change is in the Air: Art Walk” through May

Following the map for Umbrella Artfest Earth Day Art Walk has greatly added to my own awareness of Concord as well as the artists who created installations for the six stops listed. Because Art Walk has been up for a week with just a few more ahead, I’ll post quickly now. I want to spread the word so people who live close enough can go before it’s gone. Then I’ll hope to post a more comprehensive sequel later in May, including one key installation* I didn’t get to visit yet.

Murals by Sophy Tuttle, Solei, and Ann Lewis Highlight Pumphouses on the Charles River Esplanade

More than a year ago, three artists adorned all sides and surfaces of three different pumphouses on the Esplanade. I had meant to connect and celebrate these accomplishments at that time. Now at the start of a new year, I can do that with additional appreciation of their presence. Though pumphouses along the Charles River have always been essential in regulating water drainage, their cement block structures were neglected and defaced until funds from the Esplanade Association allowed artists to transform their appearances in 2019.

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.

Arlington’s Artist-in-Residence Michelle Lougee Highlights the Existence of Persistence on the Bikeway

Many hands and minds created each of nearly forty unique forms installed among the trees two months ago to survive four seasons of New England weather. Their shapes and textures have become more distinct since October’s shade from autumn leaves has gone. Like others who use the bikeway, I’ll watch for ways the art will change with wind, snow, sleet and sunlight. And I’ll keep thinking of the meanings of “persistence.” Meanwhile, here are quotes, links, and images that should reveal the resourcefulness, resilience, and reasoning that have carefully kept this prescient project going.

Mural for the Movement Makes Statements in Many Languages with Faces, Flags, and Fist in front of MFA Boston

After visiting the mural “No Weapon Formed Against Thee Shall Prosper,” currently on the Huntington Avenue lawn of the Museum of Fine Arts, I want to urge everyone in the Boston area to see it before it leaves November 19, 2020. So, this quick post includes photos, quotes and resources that could help you appreciate the mural in person, or at least through connected stories about it.