Boston Art Commission

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

FIGMENT Lights

Artist: curated and hosted by FIGMENT

Neighborhood: Rose F. Kennedy Greenway

Location: Chinatown Park (between Beech St. and Essex St.)  

Location

Chinatown Park (between Beech St. and Essex St.)
United States
42° 21' 5.3424" N, 71° 3' 33.5268" W

Medium:

Time Frame: Thursday, January 19, 2012 - Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Description:

The Rose F. Kennedy Greenway has partnered with FIGMENT on Lights on the Greenway, part of their "Winter Lights" series. These art pieces, curated and hosted by FIGMENT, incorporate light, sound, and movement to create innovative temporary art installations. The installations will rotate and change throughout January, February, and March of 2012. The line-up, courtesy of FIGMENT and the Greenway, is as follows: 

Fish Lumieres by William Turville: In China, fish are a symbol of prosperity and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come.  To help celebrate the Chinese New Year, enjoy these large lit fish sculptures during the New Year’s Flower Market at Chinatown Park. January 19th - January 26nd

The Blueway by Collaborative Electronic Mixed Media Institute (CEMMI) led by Daniel Taub: Lighting in the dry streambed of Chinatown Park will echo the feel and motion of water, and passers-by will create ripples in the display through motion sensors. January 19th - March 21st

Winter Fireflies by Jim Salem: 100 independently-controlled, simulated fireflies create a stunning and unique experience in their installation in one of the trees of Chinatown Park. February 5th - March 2nd

Colorscape Fusion by Collaborative Electronic Mixed Media Institute (CEMMI) led by Priscilla Graeff: Several of the light towers in the park will be lit by LED spotlights which change colors by remote control to accentuate the Greenway’s path for passers-by. February 9th - March 21st

you-cue-are by Ethan Kiermaier and Ricardo Delima: A custom piece of software will generate QR codes from tweets sent in close proximity to the installation and project them in a bright white projection on the wall of an adjacent brick building. As a new tweet comes through the QR code will change. February 9th - February 16th 

Learn more about the project at Figment's website

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Lighthouse

Artist: goodgood Studio

Neighborhood: Rose F. Kennedy Greenway

Location: Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion  

Location

Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion
United States
42° 21' 33.4692" N, 71° 3' 7.2216" W

Medium:

Time Frame: Thursday, January 12, 2012 - Friday, March 30, 2012

Description:

Part of the “Winter Lights on the Greenway” series, Lighthouse uses three overlapping analogue projections to create a simple interactive light scape. The work's form and materials echo the flow of the existing architecture and allude to old canvas ship sales and whale bones. These forms are reflected in the projected images as well as the generative animations shown on the two large video screens. 

Lighthouse will project onto the hardscape where the summer carousel once was, bringing a similar sense of play, laughter and enjoyment to Greenway park users. Catch this installation at the Boston Harbor Islands Pavillion from January 12 through March 30, 2012.

Learn more here: Winter Lights Series

 


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Ice Chimes

Artist: Moskow Linn Architects

Neighborhood: Rose F. Kennedy Greenway

Location: Rowes Wharf Plaza  

Location

Rowes Wharf Plaza
United States
42° 21' 25.0272" N, 71° 3' 4.2588" W

Medium:

Time Frame: Sunday, January 8, 2012 - Friday, March 30, 2012

Description:

Ice Chimes, by Moskow Linn Architects, is an “urban invention” that has been built and installed by local fine builders Payne Bouchier, with the assistance of structural engineers Siegel Associates. The sculpture is twenty feet high and collects precipitation and encourages icicle growth along a series of metal chimes.

Inspired by the Robert Frost poem “Birches,” Ice Chimes seeks to capture and amplify the beauty and sounds produced by icicles over the course of their dynamic life cycle, turning the harsh elements of winter into a positive response. Wind will activate the chimes and cold will encourage icicle growth.  A part of the Greenway’s “Winter Lights” series, the installation is located at Rowes Wharf Plaza (between High St. & Broad St.) and will be there until March 30, 2012.

Learn more here: Winter Lights Series

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Street Cathedral

Artist: Michael Moss and Claudia Ravaschiere

Neighborhood: Fort Point

Location: Corner of A St. & Congress St., Corner of A St. & Binford St.  

Location

Corner of A St. & Congress St., Corner of A St. & Binford St.
United States
42° 21' 1.2456" N, 71° 2' 54.5928" W

Medium: Plexiglass

Time Frame: Saturday, October 1, 2011 - Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Description:

Street Cathedral is a site specific public art piece designed for the Fort Point Open Studios intended to celebrate the arts community bring art to the public.

 

A jewel-toned sculptural installation inspired by the ancient art stained glass windows, Street Cathedral is a series of multicolored translucent pieces anchored to the light poles at several locations in Fort Point.   These pieces engage the public by invoking the reflective quality of cathedrals with a post-modern sensibility to share the public presence of art and celebrate the urbanscape of Fort Point. They evoke the contemplative character of stained glass with a sense of whimsy and discovery as pedestrians travel through the Fort Point neighborhood.

 

Street Cathedral utilizes daylight and the urban structures of street lights to impart color and shape into the neighborhood street life. They are constructed three dimensionally, and intended to expand the field of vision. A kaleidoscope of colors invites the viewer to interact with light as the daylight shifts and changes throughout the day. The experience of the viewers will vary as the light alters.

 

The artists are Fort Point residents who have done public art around the Boston area at Boston City Hall, Arsenal Center for the Arts, and at the Fort Point Open Studios. Their piece Musical Chairs is in the permanent collection at the Boston Children’s Museum.  Most recently, they exhibited Bells, a site-specific installation for the Art and Music exhibition at the Boston Children’s Museum.

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Nature Special, curated by deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Artist: William Lamson

Neighborhood: Downtown

Location: Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway  

Location

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway
Between State St and Atlantic Ave
United States
42° 21' 36.666" N, 71° 3' 8.7696" W

Medium:

Time Frame: Thursday, June 16, 2011 - Monday, October 31, 2011

Description:

The Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion was created to welcome visitors to the Boston Harbor Islands national park area. Each evening, from 7pm-12am, video programming will be shown on two 8 x 10 foot LED screens, from June 16, 2011 through October 31, 2011

To begin a series of future commissioned video installations, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum has guest-curated a video program called Nature Special, that features five videos about our “screened” relationship to the great outdoors by artists Jim Campbell, Sam Easterson, William Lamson, and Suara Welitoff. 
Nature Special is a video program that will be on view on the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion from 7pm to midnight each evening, and features work that presents the natural world through the mediating lens of the camera. The videos in this program underscore a more common interaction with nature – through the screen - not unlike our favorite television nature specials. The Boston Harbor Islands, in contrast, offer a rare, unmediated experience of the natural world, framed, not by roads or the television monitor, but by water.
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Arch III, Gateway: Temporary Public Art for the Boston Marine Industrial Park (BMIP) in Boston’s Innovation District

Artist: Ann Jon

Neighborhood: South Boston

Location: Boston Marine Industrial Park  

Location

Boston Marine Industrial Park
Summer Street
United States
42° 20' 38.58" N, 71° 2' 16.278" W

Medium: Various

Time Frame: Saturday, May 21, 2011 - Saturday, October 15, 2011

Description:

This spring, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, in coordination with the Boston Art Commission, sought proposals for temporary public artworks for an 18-month installation to celebrate the innovative and ecological spirit that will define Boston’s Innovation District.

Arch III, Gateway by Ann Jon

Ann Jon explores the natural stone arches formed by wind and water through her elegant piece, Arch III.  She describes these forms as her "gateway into the canyons of the Southwest." Ms. Jon is interested in and inspired by the art and architecture of nature, and the nature of art and architecture.

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Moonsnails: Temporary Public Art for the Boston Marine Industrial Park (BMIP) in Boston’s Innovation District

Artist: Marisa Dipaola

Neighborhood: South Boston

Location: Dry Dock Plaza Park  

Location

Dry Dock Plaza Park
United States
42° 20' 42.792" N, 71° 1' 53.5404" W

Medium: L.E.D. lights on bent and bolted bicycle parts

Time Frame: Saturday, May 21, 2011 - Saturday, October 15, 2011

Description:

This spring, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, in coordination with the Boston Art Commission, sought proposals for temporary public artworks for an 18-month installation to celebrate the innovative and ecological spirit that will define Boston’s Innovation District.

Moonsails by Marisa Dipaola

Drawing from her childhood experiences, Marisa Dipaola seeks to share her encounters with the native moonsnails of Boston's shores. "I imagined a family of giant glowing Moonsails some of nature’s finest travelers, exploring around the Innovation District. This family of five sculptures is hand-made from found metals, based on the notion that the enchanted is simply a rearranging of the ordinary." She continues, "Requiring minimal electricity for their energy efficient glow, these Moonsnails will illuminate their world with a fluctuating blue and green glow."

Majoring in painting while emphasizing site-specific scultpures, Marisa Dipaola graduated with honors in 2000 from the Rhode Island School of Design.  Upon graduation, she received a travel grant to study la Mezquita in Cordoba, Spain.  She exhibits her sculptural installations internationally in museums, galleries, universities, and cultural institutions.  Currently, she resides in Vermont continuing her sustainable-based art.  

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Rock Lobster: Temporary Public Art for the Boston Marine Industrial Park (BMIP) in Boston’s Innovation District

Artist: Craig Berube-Gray

Neighborhood: Boston Marine Industrial Park

Location: Marine Industrial Park  

Location

Marine Industrial Park
United States
42° 20' 39.0588" N, 71° 2' 16.3932" W

Medium: Granite

Time Frame: Saturday, May 21, 2011 - Saturday, October 15, 2011

Description:

This spring, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, in coordination with the Boston Art Commission, sought proposals for temporary public artworks for an 18-month installation to celebrate the innovative and ecological spirit that will define Boston’s Innovation District.

Rock Lobster by Craig Berube-Gray

Officially recognized as a master stone carver by the state of New Hampshire, Craig Berube-Gray brings his granite and fieldstone sculpture, Rock Lobster, to Boston's Marine Industrial Park. Mr. Berube-Gray graduated from the University of New Hampshire and has exhibited his work throughout the Eastern United States. 

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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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Urban Garden: Tree of Knowledge, curated by the deCordova Sculpture Park

Artist: Tom Otterness

Neighborhood: South Boston

Location: Fort Point Channel Park  

Location

Fort Point Channel Park
United States
42° 21' 16.1568" N, 71° 3' 9.4824" W

Medium: Bronze

Time Frame:

Description:

A prevailing theme in contemporary outdoor sculpture is the relationship between nature and culture. Urban Garden [sponsored by The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum] brings together three sculptures based on botanical forms, in a wide variety of materials and styles. Together, they suggest a fantastic garden, to both contrast with the surrounding cityscape and complement the park’s plantings and landscape design. This temporary exhibition of public art is meant to be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences and visitors. - Nick Capasso, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Tree of Knowledge, 1997 by Tom Otterness

New York-based artist Tom Otterness has enjoyed international success for his stylized bronze figures that explore the human experience.  His work can be found in many museums such as the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), and the Whitney Museum of Art (NY). 

Photo © Katelyn Littlejohn

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Urban Garden: Pumpkin Series, curated by the deCordova Sculpture Park

Artist: John Ruppert

Neighborhood: South Boston

Location: Fort Point Channel Park  

Location

Fort Point Channel Park
United States
42° 21' 15.7176" N, 71° 3' 10.2564" W

Medium: Cast Aluminum and Cast Iron

Time Frame:

Description:

A prevailing theme in contemporary outdoor sculpture is the relationship between nature and culture. Urban Garden [sponsored by The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum] brings together three sculptures based on botanical forms, in a wide variety of materials and styles. Together, they suggest a fantastic garden, to both contrast with the surrounding cityscape and complement the park’s plantings and landscape design. This temporary exhibition of public art is meant to be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences and visitors. - Nick Capasso, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum


Pumpkin Series, 1996 by John Ruppert

John Ruppert teaches sculpture at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Mr. Ruppert's metal sculptures often depict the natural world and his Pumpkin Series is no exception.  Pumpkin Series explores time and the natural process of decay.

Photo © Katelyn Littlejohn

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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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Urban Garden: Walking Flower times the Power of Five, curated by the deCordova Sculpture Park

Artist: James Surls

Neighborhood: South Boston

Location: Fort Point Channel Park  

Location

Fort Point Channel Park
United States
42° 21' 15.6888" N, 71° 3' 10.44" W

Medium: Powder coated steel

Time Frame:

Description:

A prevailing theme in contemporary outdoor sculpture is the relationship between nature and culture. Urban Garden [sponsored by The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy and the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum] brings together three sculptures based on botanical forms, in a wide variety of materials and styles. Together, they suggest a fantastic garden, to both contrast with the surrounding cityscape and complement the park’s plantings and landscape design. This temporary exhibition of public art is meant to be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences and visitors. - Nick Capasso, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Walking Flower times the Power of Five, 2010 by James Surls

Walking Flower times the Power of Five exemplifies the organic and simple aesthetic of Colorado-based artist James Surls. His work combines his observations of nature and the human figure with expressive stylizations of plant forms. He creates public art in both wood and bronze.

Photo © Katelyn Littlejohn

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