Boston Art Commission

Check out these temporary projects. To propose a temporary public art project of your own, download the guidelines and apply!

Buckys on the Channel

Artist: Carol Bugarin

Neighborhood: Fort Point

Location: Fort Point Channel  

Location

Fort Point Channel
United States
42° 21' 1.386" N, 71° 3' 8.8056" W

Medium: Pool Noodles

Time Frame: Monday, October 8, 2012 - Saturday, November 10, 2012

Description:

Colorful large Buckyballs created from pool noodles will be installed in the Fort Point Channel art basin, between the Congress St and Summer St Bridges.  Buckyballs, named for Massachusetts born architect Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller, popularized this shape in his geodesic domes during the late 60’s – early 70s.  The universal shape recurs in design, art, math, science, medicine, technology and play.  All of these are a part in the framework of the Fort Point neighborhood.

Carol Bugarin, designer of this project and glass jewelry artist, will adorn the Channel with the Buckyballs and geometric shapes repeated within the geodesic pattern.   “The techniques used to create the Buckyballs are no different than those used in jewelry making.  I envision the work like beads or jewelry for the water, only bigger.”

Floating art is sponsored by generous support of the Friends of Fort Point Channel, a nonprofit organization committed to making the Fort Point Channel an exciting and welcoming destination for all of Boston’s residents, workforce and visitors.

Follow Buckys on the Channel on Facebook

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Dance Spot

Artist: Elisa H. Hamilton

Neighborhood: Fort Point

Location: Fort Point  

Location

Fort Point
United States

Medium: Chalk

Time Frame: Saturday, October 6, 2012 - Sunday, October 21, 2012

Description:

Dance Spot is an interactive public art piece that will transform Fort Point sidewalks into colorful dance floors.

A series of five “dance spots”, prominently located throughout the Fort Point neighborhood, each area will have a dance diagram drawn on the sidewalk with colorful chalks. Paired with a particular song, there will be an online component where visitors can go to learn the dances via video and see the dances performed by the artist.

Throughout Open Studios weekend and at other scheduled times throughout the project’s duration, Elisa will travel from dance spot to dance spot with a portable stereo playing each dance spot song while doing the dance spot routines and encouraging others to join in.

more at www.dancespotboston.com

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Os Gemeos Mural on Greenway

Artist: Os Gemeos

Neighborhood: Downtown

Location: Greenway, Dewey Square  

Location

Greenway, Dewey Square
United States
42° 21' 12.8196" N, 71° 3' 16.2216" W

Medium: Spray paint

Time Frame: Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Description:

As part of an exhibition of their work at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, the Brazilian artists Os Gemeos--world-renowned for their public art projects--have created a monumental, 70' x 70' mural on the Dewey Square Air Intake Structure on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway. Both the surrounding skyscrapers and the architecture of the Intake Structure itself influenced the subject matter of the mural: a giant, yellow-colored character in brightly mismatched clothes who appears to have squeezed himself in between the towering buildings that surround him. These yellow-colored characters are an iconic and recurrent feature in Os Gemeos's work, and are depicted in a wide variety of situations. Sometimes they inhabit fantastical, dream-like landscapes of joy and color; other times we see them in more everyday situations--riding the subway, sitting at home with their families or, in the case of the figure on the Greenway mural, just peering at the busy city life unfolding below. The figures are frequently shown wearing whimsical hats, colorful hoods or scarves--another hallmark feature of the artists' work.

 

Os Gemeos hope their mural will bring color and energy to the streets of Boston as well as inspire curiosity and imagination. Together, the Greenway mural and ICA exhibition offer a unique opportunity to fully experience the range and diversity of Os Gemeos's artistic practice--from painting and sculptural works in the museum galleries to dynamic, large-scale murals on the city streets.

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Fence/Curtain 2.0

Artist: Jeanne Williamson

Neighborhood: South End

Location: The Boston Center for the Arts campus  

Location

The Boston Center for the Arts campus
United States
42° 20' 39.102" N, 71° 4' 18.2424" W

Medium: Fabric and galvanized poultry netting

Time Frame: Friday, July 13, 2012 - Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Description:

Opening Reception: Friday, July 13 at 6pm

Massachusetts-based artist Jeanne Williamson combines the spontaneous energy of yarn-bombing with a painter's eye for detail in her large-scale fabric installations. Using the BCA Plaza Garden as a backdrop, Fence/Curtain 2.0 will be on view through October 31, 2012.

Read more about Jeanne Williamson and her mixed media installations at her website.

Discover more upcoming events at the BCA at www.bcaonline.org.

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Arts Imbalance

Artist: Peter Agoos

Neighborhood: Fort Point

Location: Fort Point Channel  

Location

Fort Point Channel
United States
42° 21' 4.9572" N, 71° 3' 5.562" W

Medium: Polypropylene rope and aluminum sheeting

Time Frame: Sunday, July 1, 2012 - Sunday, September 2, 2012

Description:

Fort Point’s arts community has long been buffeted by the winds and tides of development and economic pressures and urban and culture politics. The long–term survival of the artist and craftsperson population in the Fort Point neighborhood has never been less certain. Arts Imbalance is an expression of the tenuous relationship between the artist and the urban economic milieu. A pair of life–size artist’s manikins balance — one up, one down — on a bright yellow line stretched above the heart of the Fort Point Channel. Between the superstructures of the Summer and Congress Street bridges, dual gateways to the neighborhood. The figures, precariously poised foot–to–foot on the thin line with arms outstretched, tilt and sway to the force of the elements, repeatedly tipping to the thrust of the wind but always righting themselves. 

Over the past 3 decades, Peter Agoos has designed and managed the fabrication and installation of large and small-scale permanent and temporary projects; worked extensively with corporate and educational multi-media productions; produced graphic design for print and web; shot, recorded, and edited documentary film; and created theatrical, exhibit and architectural designs. He has worked with corporations from start-up to industry-defining giant as well as small nonprofits and international NGOs. A great deal of this work has involved collaborating closely with production companies and with fabricators, and occasionally in partnership with other designers. 

Read more about Peter and his work at www.agoos.com.

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Cycles, Tides and Seasons

Artist: Ben Houge

Neighborhood: Downtown

Location: Boston Harbor Island Pavilion on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway  

Location

Boston Harbor Island Pavilion on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway
United States

Medium: Video Installation

Time Frame: Thursday, May 31, 2012 - Saturday, May 31, 2014

Description:

The National Park Service and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance have teamed up with Boston Cyberarts to create a two year art program calling for artists to make work for the two low-resolution screens at the Harbor Island Pavilion on the Greenway Conservancy. This exciting new endeavor will enliven the Greenway in the evening, while promoting the creative innovation of the region. While the Harbor Island Pavilion displays are approximately 6 x 8 feet, they have a resolution of only 48 x 64 pixels, which is not suitable for recognizable video imagery. Therefore, Boston Cyberarts has decided to commission various algorithmic artists to write programs that will create real time generative art that constantly changes.

In an effort to directly relate to the Harbor Islands themselves, the commissioned artists will draw from the National Park’s geographic information system (GIS) databases as a source, but the work will be abstract in nature. This program ties into the innovative strengths of the Boston area, using digital art algorithms to heighten the interest in Boston Harbor’s history and natural complex ecosystems.

The first work commissioned for the program is Cycles, Tides, and Seasons, by Cambridge-based artist Ben Houge. Houge is a algorithmic artist, composer and sound artist. His areas of activity range from computer game design and soundtracks to sacred choral music. Recently, he was artist in residence at the MIT Media Lab and teaches video game music in the Film Scoring Department at Berklee College of Music.

Read more about the programming here: http://bostoncyberarts.org/category/specialproject/

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Modern Dance

Artist: Jacob Kulin

Neighborhood: Downtown

Location: Greenway, Wharf District Parks, near High Street  

Location

Greenway, Wharf District Parks, near High Street
United States
42° 21' 22.896" N, 71° 3' 3.9024" W

Medium: Stainless steel and various wood materials

Time Frame: Monday, December 20, 2010 - Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Description:

Strongly influenced by Scandinavian design, the Boston-based sculptor Jacob Kulin uses natural forms to express the figurative qualities of the human body.  Modern Dance stands 26 feet high and is constructed from stainless steel and various wood materials.

The main rectangular Douglas-fir beam acts as the torso of the form and holds together all other components. This old-growth timber beam was reclaimed specifically for this project. Another key element to this composition is the asymmetrical line delineated by a curved Hickory tree. This visual direction and physical tension further express the movement of an abstract Modern Dance. The tall, central stainless steel pole creates a dynamic metallic visual line.

The ring of trees surrounding the sculpture act as a curtain that exposes and conceals the work on a seasonal basis. Passersby may feel beckoned by the tall, dramatic size of the piece and be summoned off the greenway path to move under the sculpture, react with its verticality, and engage with its composition of materials.

For more information about the sculpture and visiting the Wharf District Parks, see the Greenway Conservancy's website. For a video tour of Jacob's studio and more information about Modern Dance, check out the Boston Art Commission's Artist Interview series featuring Jacob Kulin. 

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International HarborArts Outdoor Gallery at Boston Harbor Shipyard

Artist: Various

Neighborhood: East Boston

Location: Boston Harbor Shipyard on the Boston HarborWalk  

Location

Boston Harbor Shipyard on the Boston HarborWalk
United States
42° 21' 48.9096" N, 71° 1' 58.8216" W

Medium: Various

Time Frame:

Description:

Organized by HarborArts in partnership with the Urban Arts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. HarborArts is a global community bringing people together to champion the vital role our oceans, waterways and harbors play in the future of our planet. The Boston Harbor Shipyard is a 14-acre working shipyard featuring the HarborArts Outdoor Gallery with large-scale 2D and 3D works by over 30 artists / teams from three continents. Exhibiting artists include B. Amore, Ralph Berger, David Chatowsky, Louisa Conrad, Robert Craig, Konstantin Dimopoulos, Marisa DiPaola, Gary Duehr, Margaret Evangeline, Mark Favermann, James Fuhrman, Donald Gerola, Gunnar Gundersen with Julia Jacoby and students from Høgskole i Akershus, Elizabeth Hack, Lisa Hein & Robert Seng, Paul Howe, Matt Evald Johnson, Annetta Kapon, Stacy Levy, Carolyn Lewenberg, Mark Millstein, Caitlin Nesbit, Lori Nozick, Trace O'Connor, Bayne Peterson, Kimberly Radochia, Derek Riley, Karl Saliter, Paul Lloyd Sargent, and Maayke Schurer. HarborArts employs the arts to raise awareness for issues affecting our water resources. HarborArts is featuring the Massachusetts Ocean Coalition and information about the member organizations, highlighting their important environmental work on the Massachusetts Ocean Plan.

Open year-round. Recommended viewing hours Mon-Fri, 3:30pm–sunset & Sat-Sun, 9am–sunset.

http://www.harborarts.net
http://www.massart.edu/About_MassArt/Urban_Arts_Institute/Projects.html

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