Category women artists
Art Raises Many Related Questions in Amazing Ways on the Boston Common: “What Do We Have in Common?” by Janet Zweig, now through October 24
Presented by NOW+THERE and Friends of the Public Garden, through wonderfully welcoming, attentive, versatile Guides.
I’ll post very quickly in case anyone who lives nearby can visit the Boston Common before this brief opportunity ends. I plan to return and post with more connections. Meanwhile here are a few photos from my first visit two days ago, with quotes from two informative rich resources: NOW+THERE and Friends of the Public Garden.
New Murals on Blue Hill Avenue by Ekua Holmes and London Parker-McWhorter Make Many Meaningful Connections
My visit to “Honoring the past, seeding the future,” the newest Grove Hall murals, extended my own range of travel after too long a time. Simply walking a few blocks around their location (on and near 345 Blue Hill Avenue) offered such an abundance of promising connections that I must now choose a few of many for focus in this post. Here are the chosen three.
Breathe in Energy of 2021 Art Ramble: “Something in the Air”
My first visit this year, on a sunny September morning, should be one of many in the next two months, so I won’t try to cram in whatever can wait for future posts. That suits the spirit I sensed along the pathways of this year’s ramble, allowing time and space between, and within each installation to appreciate what the air is offering. So here are just a few photos (with excerpts from artist statements) from four of the fifteen installations as samples of what you might see if you can go or explore online if you live elsewhere.
Circles Unify Art by Laura Baring-Gould and Mags Harries/Lajos Héder in Drinking Fountains Revived Around Fresh Pond Reservoir
For many months of the pandemic, these drinking fountains were shut down (sometimes covered over) sadly signaling limits on ordinary routines and extraordinary art experiences. When the fountains around Fresh Pond became available again, I wanted to honor their functional and creative qualities. I began to see circles as useful frames for water and also design elements in art, as the artists must have from the start.
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.
More Public Art Appears in Harvard Square: “Michelle the Blue Elephant”; Patricia Thaxton’s Mural
View two of a few recent additions to visual art in Harvard Square. I’ll save the rest for future posts. Both artworks involve creative use of fabric. Both are in settings that don’t always enhance viewing or documenting art. But as Patricia Thaxton notes on her printed mural “The Beauty of Everyday Living,” it is about joy and harmony “in spite of it all,…”, including unavoidable traffic, trash, and construction equipment. See photos, quotes, and 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.
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.
Art Outdoors 