Projects

 

An award-winning non-profit consultancy, UrbanArts has facilitated more than 100 public art projects in its 30-year history. Please download our portfolio of projects (PDF) with a featured selection.

Learn more about some of our current projects below.

The Urban Arts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art and Design was recently awarded the contract for a public art planning process in Lowell, MA to facilitate the development of a public art plan for creative gateway features at the primary entry point into Historic Downtown Lowell, along the Thorndike Street exit off the Lowell Connector. Located in the historic Hamilton Canal District, this project was initiated by the City of Lowell, the Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL), and Lowell National Historical Park. A call to artists is expected to be released in early 2012.

Brighton Branch Library Sculpture
Commissioned Artist: Richard Duca
Location: Boston — Brighton, MA
Client: Boston Public Library, Friends of the Brighton Library
Funding: New England Foundation for the Arts, et. al.

UrbanArts facilitated the selection process for the regional, open competition. Presently in fabrication, Richard Duca's group of three polychromed, cast iron figures is seated in the newly landscaped setting in front of the library, positioned in the center of a garden knoll at the main entrance. A dedicated walkway leads the pedestrian from the major thoroughfare in a gently spiraling curve. The abstract shapes unfurl from the center, sweeping upward to a height of nine feet.

Union Crossing Public Art Master Plan
Public Art Master Plan Project Director: Christina Lanzl/UrbanArts
Lead Artist: D.S. Koff
Public Art Pilot Project Artists: Oscar Bogran, Flyn Costello
Location: Lawrence, MA
Client: Lawrence CommunityWorks
Funding: New England Foundation for the Arts

Union Crossing is a bold and innovative redevelopment project that will transform a complex of 19th century textile mills into a dynamic new mixed-use neighborhood on the banks of the Merrimack River. Its 360,000 square feet of renovated space will encompass approximately 125 units of family and workforce housing, commercial office, retail, and community facilities, as well as new green space and pedestrian amenities in the heart of the city. The Public Art Master Plan establishes a framework for the three themes of nature, sustainability, and history, which is based on extensive research and community process. Site typologies and documentation, a matrix of both temporary and permanent public art programs, along with a plan for implementation are intended to enable a feasible realization. The Union Crossing public art master plan was spearheaded by Lawrence CommunityWorks in partnership with the City of Lawrence, Essex Art Center, the Lawrence History Center, and Groundwork Lawrence. Download the Union Crossing Public Art Master Plan.

Sleeping Moon
Artist: Joseph Wheelwright
Location: Peabody Square/Ashmont Station Plaza at the terminus of the MBTA Red Line, Boston, MA
Client: Dorchester Arts Collaborative and Saint Mark's Area Main Street
Funding: Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund of the City of Boston, New England Foundation for the Arts, Trinity Financial, and private contributions.

Sleeping Moon enhances the cultural, environmental, and economic vitality of the neighborhood. Joseph Wheelwright's 11-foot bronze strikes the delicate balance between being approachable and easy to read, and at the same time meaningful, challenging, and visually rewarding.

HarborArts International Exhibition at Boston Harbor Shipyard
Juror: Randi Hopkins, Associate Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Sponsor: HarborArts
Location: Boston Harbor Shipyard, 256 Marginal Street, East Boston, Massachusetts
Open year-round. Recommended viewing hours Mon-Fri, 3:30 p.m.—sunset, Sat.—Sun., 9 a.m.—sunset.
Download the HarborArts map and self-guided walking tour (PDF)
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, Paul Howe, Matt Evald Johnson, Carolyn Lewenberg, Mark Millstein, Caitlin Nesbit, Trace O'Connor, 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.

Mission Hill Bike Rack Project
Artist: Artists for Humanity
Sponsor: Mission Hill Main Streets
Location: Brigham Circle on Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
Funding: Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund of the City of Boston

Artists for Humanity created three uniquely designed bicycle racks for Mission Hill Main Streets, a local, grassroots effort of businesses, organizations, institutions, and residents striving to create an attractive neighborhood that houses a broad business mix and features a welcoming streetscape with attractive and creative architecture. Artists for Humanity's (AfH) Cameron Akeredolu, Josh Rosado, and Victor Torres, led by director of sculpture Nick Rodrigues, developed three bike rack designs Cameron, Mission Hill Padlock, and Victorious. Overall, a dozen Boston public school high school students of the AfH sculpture program worked on the Mission Hill Bike Rack project, joined by half a dozen Mission Hill middle school students recruited by Mission Hill Main Streets. The bike racks increase bicycle parking and add identity, beauty, and utility to Mission Hill.

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