Curated by Laurie Bogdan and Kimberley Harding; Hapgood Wright Town Forest in Concord, MA, September 1 – November 14…The Umbrella site 2021 Art Ramble: “Something in the Air” lists the sixteen artists’ bios, websites, and statements about their artwork, as well as audio versions to access as you move along.I visited in September and October, followed by posts, each focusing on four installations. This third post connects four more through their relation to the forest’s trees, shadows, and light while always aware of the air.
In September, after my first visit, I posted an overview with focus on four artworks and a plan to return for additional explorations. Now, selecting from photos in my second visit, early October, I focus in this sequel post on artworks about animals with wings.
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.
Engulf mural , Lincoln Street Triangle, about three blocks southwest of South Station, created by Juan Travieso in 2019 is up through October 2021. Sometimes obscured by cars and trucks in its adjacent parking lot, the long low wall space is notably less visible from a distance than the tall Greenway mural wall in Dewey Square. Additionally, the mural’s lifespan has coincided with pandemic limitations on travel and social activity. I’ve visited twice and hope to go again before it’s gone, while wishing I could do more to convey the visual drama and mystery generated by Juan Travieso ‘s Engulf.
All I can offer so far is to post segments of the mural with captions quoted from the Artist Statement to focus on the issues that are motivating Juan Travieso’s creative work. This should help me recall what I saw at the wall and discover design elements I didn’t absorb at the time. Maybe it will connect with someone who missed the chance to be there, or might still have that chance.
Begin with a new installation Confluence by Laurie Bogdan and Kimberley Harding. Then follow a path enriched by continuing presence of earlier installations, : Colony III, Current, Persistence, ExtraOrdinary Birds.
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.
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.
Sculpture by Leslie Wilcox, Poetry by Jessie Brown, Chairs Transformed by Many Artists: This post honors an inspiring event last Saturday (8/21/21) that reminded me, yet again, of how much public art keeps offering no matter how many challenges continue. Walking among at least thirty chairs and six tall trees with unique creative identities, I began to understand they all shared histories extended by artists’ careful appreciative attention. Also most chairs there were made with wood, so crafted originally from trees. Musical performances, poetry reading, artist talk, and many other happenings were free for anyone who visited the lawn of the historic Jason Russell House near Arlington Center.
That led me to this quick post ( with links, quotes, and key resources in red type) because the chairs are only up for bidding until September 5:
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.
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.
Art Outdoors 