   
2000 WINDOWS ART PROJECT (WAP)
EXHIBITION DATES: June 30-July 30, 2000
RECEPTION: Thursday, July 11, 6-8:30 pm
“FISH FOR ART”
WAP 2000 celebrated the Mystic River in Davis Square. This theme was chosen to complement the work that local river advocacy groups were doing to protect and transform Somerville's neglected waterfront. Artists were invited to challenge our conceptions of the river, increase public awareness about the watershed, explore the river as a metaphor for the flow of time, or treat the topic of the Mystic River in any other way they might divine.
THE WAP RECEPTION
Davis Square is looking pretty fishy these days.
THE WAP ARTISTS
Carmella Adario - site: Salon Femia
Carmella Adario is a late bloomer as far as the arts are concerned. She started to paint after retiring from an active career. She often paints scenes found in her home -- flowers in a vase, a bowl of fruit. Here she portrays two domestic variations on our fish theme -- as pets and as food.
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 Yani Batteau
Yani Batteau is a Somerville-based artist/performer whose work has been profiled in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Improper Bostonian. Since graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art her creative talents have been put to use by clients as diverse as WGBH, Oxfam America, and Sears Roebuck. Her work has been featured in both group and one-woman shows and has received numerous awards. For the month of July she has painted fish with Tempura paint -- a water-based medium -- along the sidewalks in and around Davis Square. She writes, "I like fish, I eat fish, and I paint fish."
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Liza Bingham - site: Maven Realty
These paintings are a result of several morning visits to Somerville's Mystic River Reservation. During these visits I observed the shoreline of the Mystic River, focusing on details in foliage, water currents, and in the debris that lines much of the shore. My paintings, though ultimately stylized, aim to simply document the sites seen. For instance, although I was originally drawn to the foliage at the river's edge, I included in the images what was found on site, from clam shells to candy wrappers. The paintings are a hybrid of landscape and still-life paintings, in that they tend to focus in a "zoom lens" way on the subject matter, creating intimate spaces within the greater landscape.
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Nancy Hall Brooks - site: Carberry's Bakery & Cafe
The banks of an urban river, the river itself, stir up many associations. Rusty cans and bottles of a small dump become an outdoor house where a child's stories are invented. Meeting places. Secrets. Lives in the current of the city. The river that reminds us of other rivers. That curls back on itself, like a memory. The river flows. People come down to it. Tired people. Energetic people. Contemplative people. Somerville, dreaming of open spaces. The construction of this piece, viewable from two sides, so that it both connects and divides indoor and outdoor space, is a reflection on the dual aspect of rivers as "connectors" and "dividers." A river divides the land - one bank from another. But it also connects one community to another. To have a river to come down to, to dream on, we will need to work together.
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Brown School Students, Holding Fish - Site: Citizen's Bank, 212 Elm Street
As part of an interdisciplinary art project, students from the Brown School in Somerville incorporated the study of the human form and proportion in their figure drawing and applied this knowledge to the Mystic River theme. The self portraits with the fish are meant to symbolize that each individual has a responsibility to protect the environment. This work was created by students under the direction José Santos, Art Educator for the Somerville Public Schools and working artist. Mr. Santos graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in Illustration and a Masters of Science of Art Education. He is part of the Fort Point Artist Community in Boston.
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Kristi Chase - site: McKinnon's Market
Rivers are a metaphor of life and time. I wanted to explore the history of New England and the Mystic but I didn't want to do it as a real history but rather in how we have used it. As a cook, I see how the ways we use our resources show the changes that have occurred here. Fish have meaning in all sorts of cultures. They can be seen individually or as part of a larger whole. They are amazing in the variety of shapes, colors, and sizes that they become. They live in an element, water, where most humans and mammals cannot. The Mystic was part of the life blood of this area of New England. The fish that I have chosen were and are eaten by the various groups that have lived on its banks in what is now Somerville. Some varieties of fish are native to these shores and some imported. The arrival in the spring of fresh shad, herring, salmon and other fish was especially welcome to our ancestors, be they Native American or European settlers. I have chosen to represent their cultures and those of newer arrivals with recipes. I have taken ideas and recipes from several sources. These are Mrs. Gardiner's Recipes from 1763; Susannah Carter's The Frugal Housewife, 1772; Miss Parloa's New Cook Book and Marketing Guide, 1880; Peter Hunt's Cape Cod Cookbook, 1954; Jack Santa Maria's Traditional Indian Cookery, 1978; Alan Davidson's North American Seafood, 1979; Cox and Jacobs' Spirit of the Harvest, 1991; family manuscripts and the internet.
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Anne Corrsin - site: Black & Blues
This installation, entitled "Blue Bridge," refers to a simple bridge that could span a river (such as the Mystic here in Somerville). It also speaks of "crossing over," or the transformation suggested by spanning a body of water. In my work, I enjoy the challenge of making sculpture using light, seemingly delicate materials to create large volumes.
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Cummings School Students - site: McDonald's
Colorful painted carp were created by students at the Cummings School, and inspired by traditional Japanese windsocks as well as the Mystic River.
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Whitney Davis River Goddess - site: Photos Now
I was influenced in making this sculpture by the plank masks from Burkina Faso, which represent specific animal and human spirits. This is the spirit of the river, traditionally giving us water, plant and animal life. Its gesture suggests both the offering of its bounty and a cry for help as the river becomes more and more polluted as it flows through the city. I used natural materials from the river, again an idea drawn from West African art, as well as wood, clay, plaster and paint.
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Anthony Day - site: Disc Diggers
Be careful, convenience sweeps us into thinking our surroundings are being put to good use. Use your own perception. That is where you construct the world around you. Bring your sense of aesthetics to your environment how does this come into play in the satisfaction of consumer needs versus fundamental needs. The question I put to the viewer, would you rather be swimming in your own satisfaction of consumption or would it be better to have a natural resource uncontaminated by the lust for products and the ramifications that it has. I would like to say that the work of art has a love for polystyrene foam packaging it has a practical use and it holds an innate beauty.
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Kathleen Finlay - site: Wedgewood and Crane
An image that keeps reappearing in my work is one of water the workings of water, waterlines, tides, swells, traces of debris deposited when water recedes from a boundary, the after-marks of this fluid movement left in stasis. A river is a boundary between two pieces of land and a border between the elements of earth and water. How they come together and act with or oppose each other and how objects are acted upon by these elements are the issues that I am working with in this piece.
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"Fish for Art!" - site: Harvard Optical Shop, 40 Holland Street
Somerville Arts Council logo contest entries.
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Emma Louise Provost Forrest - site: Harvard Optical Shop, 40 Holland Street
I actually had the idea for a Mystic View quilt even before I heard what the theme was for ArtBeat this year. I had been making sketches in my quilt diary, then Mum told me that the Mystic River was the theme, and I said, "Oh groovy!!! Maybe I really could make a Mystic View quilt for the Windows Art Project."
I'm ten years old, so the quilt has a kid's perspective. Since I was five, I've been going to the Mystic River in the spring to help the herring over the dams. Last spring I was in "Notes for the Next Life," and I learned a lot about the river and its history. I've been participating in the Assembly Square planning process, so I know what is being considered for the future of the site. I love nature, and I want to preserve the Mystic River as a little piece of nature in this city.
I would like to thank Mum and Dad for their unending support; my little sister Eliza for her enthusiasm and humor; Chris Daveta for his photo of the Mystic River; Lawrence Paolella and Peggy Ryan for their help, ideas, and fabric; Walter Booth from Photos Now; Kristin, Cecily, and Julia from the Arts Council for their help; and the Beatles for their awesome music.
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Mary Galli and Urban Primitives - site: Planet Aid
Our group of Urban Primitive artists is dedicated to uniting spiritual energy and the creative process. A landscaper, multi-medium assemblers/sculptors and a watercolorist make up our group. Working in the year 2000 we agree with the importance of recycling. An environmentally conscious outlook prevails effortlessly as trash objects are transformed into artworks and cast aside organic materials develop into earthworks. Trying to merge two worlds that are usually so far removed from one another: business and spirituality-functioning in a business oriented society and still trying to feed your soul. Participating Artists: Mary Galli, Alden Todd, Dawn Valone-Wilson, Emily Malin, Alan Standrowicz.
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Debra Giller - site: McIntyre & Moore Booksellers
I create objects that convey a multitude of visual associations that relate to organic forms and man-made constructions. Many of these associations are suggested by flowers and mechanical objects. I like the intricate shapes and biological associations evoked in machines as well as the interior worlds of cellular life. I am interested in exploring by exaggerating and combining these two types of elements. It is the tension between the man-made and the natural environment that my work relates to the Mystic River Project. In my work I try to create a harmonious relationship between the two.
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Abby Gitlitz - site: Denise's Homemade Ice Cream
Stained glass artist Abby Gitlitz created playful colorful portraits to remind us of the fate of the fish who make their home in the Mystic River.
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Jane Goldman - site: Christo's
These two photographs depict the Rock Gunnel and the Spiny Dogfish from "Atlantic Journey," my installation commissioned by the Massachusetts Port Authority for the new pedestrian walkways at Logan Airport. The theme of the 35,000 square foot terrazzo floor (stretching from Terminal A to Terminal E through the new parking garage) is an aquatic voyage; the pedestrian travels from beach to deep waters, encountering forty-four species of sea creatures indigenous to New England waters. Atlantic Journey was completed in 1999. A second commission, "The Abyss," will be completed in 2001 and continues the theme: a walkway depicting deep sea creatures connects the parking garage to Terminal B, and ocean bottom life are found on the walkway to Terminal C. The Abyss will feature forty-six more aquatic species. These two installations total over 60,000 square feet, comprising the largest public artwork in New England.
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Susan Halter - site: Goodwill
Five years ago I moved into a house that borders the Mystic River. I spend a lot of time walking and sitting along its banks. Like many people, I find that escaping to this natural setting rejuvenates me. No matter how bad my day has been, I can walk out to the river and feel better. For some time now, my work has incorporated natural objects-- fish, bark, chicken skins. It's an attempt to bring some of the mystery and spirit that I find outdoors, inside. This piece is about drawing strength from the Mystic--weaving it, stitching it into defined forms, enclosing yourself in it. I hope that it captures some of its wildness, and that it serves as a reminder that the world is a bigger place than we'll ever know, and that, as Langston Hughes wrote, rivers are places where our souls can grow deep.
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Roberta Hayes - site: China Sun
Photographs and stories of the community gardeners of the Mystic Housing Development.
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Kristen Kern - site: Dente's Barber Shop & Davis Square Plaza
My photography is primarily documentary work, a series of photographs that tell a story about a particular place, person, or event. The installation of my projects is often far more important than the collection of photographs alone. It is too easy to walk by a wall of photographs without even looking at the images. The installation should work to enhance the impact of the images. The focus of this year's Davis Square Windows Art Project is the Mystic River, a piece of nature flowing through the city. It seemed only appropriate that the installation of my photographs should represent the same. Using liquid photographic emulsion, I have printed a series of images of the Mystic River on rocks that I have collected in the Boston area. "Rivers" of these rocks flow through Davis Square and Dente's Barber Shop window.
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Reclamations Artists Installation
by RA member Martin J. Knox - site: Fleet Bank
Reflection of Reclaiming Draw 7 Reclamation Artists is a regional group of environmental artists, sculptors, architects and other professionals committed to using temporary, on-site art installations to affect the future of important but under-used or misused urban sites. This past May, twenty artists invaded the banks of the Mystic River at Draw 7 Park and Assembly Square. The window retells the story of the riverside installation.
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Megan Kriegel - site: Pluto
In May of this year, I went on a canoe trip down the Mystic River with a friend, whose article about that trip appears in the Somerville Arts Council's new Field Guide to the Arts, due out in mid-July. We canoed from Medford to Chelsea, and saw many things along the way, both natural and man-made. It took us about 3 hours each way. My friend paddled while I took these photographs. I used a Pentax K1000 with a 35-80mm f/4.0 zoom lens. Please see the more expanded story in the window nearby. I have been exhibiting photographs for 2 years, in and around Somerville. More work may be seen at www.megpix.com. All images are silver gelatin prints, 8 1/2 by 12 3/4 inches.
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Keith Maddy - site: Middlesex Federal, 1 College Avenue
Aquatic beings?! Given the theme of the ArtBeat festival this year I wanted to have fun and play with images of ourselves. I began to sort through aquatic animals and people parts, mixing and matching to create a natural transformation, capturing boredom, power, social observation, whimsy, and other daily moments. The completed images are hosts, playmates, spirit beings, dream players in our summer of fun and fantasy, art and life, a moment to look, smile and swim away with what you will. DonÔt close your eyes to the possibilities of the unknown.
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Daniel Maher Stained Glass Studio, The Exquisite Fish - site: H.J. Wiseman Insurance, 415 Highland Avenue
The idea behind The Exquisite Fish came from the surrealistic parlour game, "The Exquisite Corpse." Each artist at Daniel Maher Stained Glass is assigned sections of a fish to create. The only established link between the sections is the contour/outline of the fish body. The inevitable uniqueness of each panel along with the beauty and variety of glass that create this one fantastic fish symbolically represents the beauty and bio-diversity of the Mystic River and will hopefully elicit a moment of contemplation from the viewer. Participating artists: Matias E. Arroyo-Pomalas, Katherine Bader Gakenheimer, Anna Maria Johansson, Daniel Maher, Jach Maher, Susan Weber.
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Lee Mandell and Susan Berstler - site: H&R Block
Fish Babel : Part II : Limbo Limbo references that state between up & down, here & now, being and not being --- a metaphorical state of suspension. Limbo grew from an act of anger and/or hate. It is our allegorical response to the destruction of an earlier piece, Fish Babble, exhibited last May along the Mystic River as part of the Reclamation Artists' Reclaiming Draw 7 project. The earlier installation consisted of 5 computer monitors transformed into working fish tanks containing live gold fish swimming amongst various archaeological artifacts referencing the river. After 4 days, 3 of the 5 tanks were destroyed and their inhabitants killed. Images of Fish Babble -- both before and after the violence -- have been incorporated into the slide show being shown as part of Fish Babel : Part II : Limbo. Limbo depicts the transformation of the fish from a realm of babble -- a confusion of sounds and noise -- to babel -- visionary scheme.
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Peggy Melanson - site: Mane Attraction
Published in several newspapers and magazines, "Mystic View" tells the story of Peggy Melanson's morning writing journal entry, detailing her spectacular view of the Mystic River. Melanson, a Somerville author, photographer, poet, storyteller, performing and visual artist also teaches writing, storytelling, and "stonescape painting" workshops. The project was done in collaboration with Somerville High School graphic communication student, Tenzin Nyinjee. His family traveled from Tibet to India where Nyinjee began learning computer graphics at age seven. The hard-working, dedicated seventeen year-old enjoys the artistic side of computers and would like to work in graphic arts after graduation from Somerville High School in 2001. Story and Photographs by Peggy Melanson Poster and Graphics by Tenzin Nyinjee Photographs enlarged by Walgreen's, Broadway, Somerville.
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Rachel Mello - site: Someday Cafe
Mystic Views When first visiting the little park along the Mystic, I thought of how neglected and sad it was, how the area seemed to have been developed without much consideration for the river. But, while taking some photographs, I met a woman playing with her dog. She exclaimed: "Isn't this the most beautiful place? This morning I saw two swans!" I realized that I had been seeing only the problems- making the same mistake I was attributing to developers and planners. I hope my paintings capture some of the beauty and potential hidden in this lovely corner of Somerville. Rachel Mello is the owner of Deeper Blue Design; a partial portfolio is available at www.rachelmello.com.
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Karen Molloy - site: Saragas Eye Doctors
Generally in my work I express my inner subjective impression of the city, while exploring the relationships between the rich textures and rhythms of the urban environments in which I live work, or visit. I've lived in Somerville for over 10 years and have used images I've taken of its streets and neighborhoods frequently source material for my artmaking. These two panels express my experience of the Mystic River during several visits (with a camera) to the Somerville riverbanks this spring. The collages, 24" x 60" each, are comprised of enlarged photocopies on vellum.
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Michael Murie - site: Action Music
Title: Trip to the Mystic River I tried to create a virtual exploration of part of the Mystic River using a variety of images captured using a digital camera. The window installation contains a self-running presentation which is based on the materials in the complete piece
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Presenting... Miss Mystic!
Starring in...Beautify the Mystic
Site: Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square
Miss Mystic––the self-appointed spokes-mermaid of the Mystic River––wishes to cordially invite you to enjoy her performance and installation "Beautify the Mystic." Miss Mystic takes on the enemies of the River, pollution, factories, malls, big developers, and the interstate in her interactive performance. She hopes that her work will involve both the community and other artists in raising awareness about the development plans for the Mystic River.
Miss Mystic would like to thank the following people for their support & participation: Nancy & Andrew Sciullo, Claes Andreasen, Christina Sciullo, Amanda Mujica, Emily Flynt, James Tallach, Emily Wilder,Daniel Tudor, Ciara MacDonald, HIlary Block, Jay Coutier, The Casali Group, Elroy and everyone at the Somerville Arts Council.
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Nancy Natale - site: Dover Pizza
Life is but a dreamþon the Mystic River Look up in Italy and chances are there's a dome overhead, decorated with the magnificent creation of someone's inspired imagination. Of all the domes I craned to see during my first visit to Italy in May, I most loved those in Byzantine style, expressed in gold mosaics. St. Mark's in Venice was the epitome of beauty for me. I was overwhelmed by the insatiable decoration of every surface in a controlled frenzy of patterning on ceilings, walls, floors, altars, everywhere, everywhere. The artists who created St. Marks's were inspired by their ecstatic vision of heavenly paradise. Basing my style on their enthralling artistic wonder, I give you in this window my vision of paradise right here in Somerville (and Medford) -- a Mystic River of bounty and beauty, enriching our senses, deepening our emotions, connecting us to our origins, and establishing this little corner of the earth as home, the best place to be.
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Cecil Nickerson - site: Action Music, 69 Holland Street
My lobster shell hobby matured upon my retirement twenty years ago. The figurines are in placement all over the world. Tourists from Colombia saw my work and asked if I could construct a Juan Valdez, the coffee picker. The ex-Premier of India has one of my figurines at his home on the eastern slope of the Himalayas. George and Barbara Bush have two at Kennebunkport, and, for his presidential collection, they also have one of his recent famed parachute jump. Jimmy and Amy Carter, Julia Child, Mary Richardson, and our own former mayor Capuano are also in possession of my folk art. The figurines have been written up in international magazines, newspapers, and have been shown in an exhibit at the Somerville Museum.
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Shoshana Phillips - site: Davis Square Dental
My work incorporates the various aspects of social interaction existing within a condensed package of all the things that I find visually appealing, and the humorous aspects that arise within the intertwining of these two worlds. I try to present an image of the intimate, gritty, chaotic communing of daily life as defined by a world that sparkles and shines with gaudy American consumerism. In this drawing of the Mystic River I attempted to depict wildlife that lives within an urban setting, and to show botht he contrast between the two worlds, as well as the ability to cohabitate that is evident.
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Jason Player, Pools of Light - Site: RedBones, 55 Chester Street
The purpose of Pools of Light is to give the feeling of being underwater, with the light streaming down from the surface, as if you were walking on the bottom of the Mystic River. This work is only active on cloudy days or at night and only works with your presence. I love making works about finding wonder in the pedestrian experience- making art that is interactive and accessible.
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Judith Prager, Mystic Views: Local landscapes and Waterways - Site: Au Bon Pain, Holland Street
I am inspired to find "Mystic River views" in my own "urban" backyard. These paintings are some of my favorite visions of the Mystic River banks and other local waterways and landscapes. The beauty of the light on the water, its magical movement, the sense of following a path around it, the satisfaction of "completing the loop," the surprising open space in the middle of the city, the graceful formations of the river banks and trees as they hug the water, - all these things delight my eye and spirit and inspire me to paint.
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Jenny Rollins - site: Statue Park
Just as this structure is held together by the interlocking and interdependency of its components, so is the ecosystem of a river. The Mystic River has been suffering the devastating effects of continual pollution for over a century. This lantern is intended to reflect the fragility of the river's ecosystem. Despite the damaged conditions of the river, there still exists an active herring run.. The fish, as they swim in and out along the transparent fiber, are to take on a ghost-like quality: harbingers of what will become of the life that currently struggles to survive in the river. Fortunately, serious clean-up is underway and will continue until the river is restored to the unpolluted and vital source it once was -- an estimated ten-year effort. The potentiality of the Mystic is tremendous.
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J.P. Sacco, Life Exists in the Waters of Somerville - Site: Sacco's Bowl Haven, 45 Day Street
J.P. provides us with a two-dimensional exhibit portraying the existence of aquatic life in the waters of Somerville. His medium is charcoal and oil pastels on colored paper. Along with his interpretation of the striped bass, he has included some of the flies that he ties which mimic the local bait fish. He has logged many hours fly fishing behind the Assembly Square Mall at the Amelia Earhart Dam. Although the striped bass he catches and releases appear healthy, he was discontented with the water quality. This prompted him to join the Mystic Valley task force in an effort to explore the possibilities for a clean, safe, comfortable environment.
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Alison C. Safford, Scan - Site: The Caning Shoppe, 200 Elm Street
When I was younger, I repeatedly had a dream where my eyes followed lines of text, but couldn't bring the words into focus. The strongest elements of the dream were the motion of my eyes, combined with the words being unperceivable. The fish and water act as representations of the action of my eyes and the attempts to read/perceive. I have been interested in the ways the body (including the mind) filters and comprehends information . . . how we learn. I see the body as a funnel with the eyes, ear, nose, skin, and mouth as the mouth of the funnel (receiving information) and the understanding of our surroundings as the final product. The messages taken in from the "funnels" can change in transit, or be completely blockaded. The tricks the mind and body can play, and how our physiology can modify information, can deeply change our understanding of our world.
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Brown School Students, Holding Fish - Site: Citizen's Bank, 212 Elm Street
As part of an interdisciplinary art project, students from the Brown School in Somerville incorporated the study of the human form and proportion in their figure drawing and applied this knowledge to the Mystic River theme. The self portraits with the fish are meant to symbolize that each individual has a responsibility to protect the environment. This work was created by students under the direction José Santos, Art Educator for the Somerville Public Schools and working artist. Mr. Santos graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with a BFA in Illustration and a Masters of Science of Art Education. He is part of the Fort Point Artist Community in Boston.
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Stephen Sette Ducati - Site: Store24, 4 College Avenue
Accessible by a single neglected stretch of pavement beyond the almost abandoned Assembly Square Mall is the Draw 7 Park. Through Somerville's own Yellow Cab service lot and down a gauntlet of towering chainlink and heavy granite the road seems to dead-end. At the last moment the wall opens to the right, and a hard turn slips you under the thunderous Orange Line.
Once beyond the live third rail a welcome sign awaits, announcing your arrival to an MDC Reservation called "Draw 7." Rising in foreground an airportesque control tower stands guard over the Amelia Earhardt Dam. To the left glimpses of the Winter Hill Yacht Club, to the right, beyond barbed wire and security lights, the MBTA bus-yard glows yellow. As the waters of the Mystic River lap gently against the rocky shore the silence is broken with the roar of a dual engine monster speeding across the concrete piered Delaware & Hudson railroad bridge. Empty coal cars trail behind as the Boston Edison plant pulsates in the background. This is the industrial side of Somerville. Concrete and steel awaits the diesel and electric fury of trains.
Ferried across the waters to Everett, Medford, and beyond, passengers only get a glimpse of our small town. Enveloped by marvels of men and machine, Draw 7 can only dream of days when people used to flock to her once sandy beaches to cool themselves in the clean fresh waters.
The night brings a certain element that is never seen in the day. Artificial lights bring an element of heightened vision that never actually allows darkness to fall upon waters and the shores of Draw 7 park.
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Anna Shapiro - site: Social Security Administration Building, 240 Elm Street
This is the Assembly Square watertower located near the Mystic River at the Assembly Square Mall. It held water that was used to steam heat the Ford Assembly Plant from 1926 to 1958. During that time there were almost 1.5 million cars and light trucks made at the Assembly Plant. A few yards away is a narrow and beautiful walk along the Mystic River. There is access to the river at the back of the parking lot through the fence.
Water inspires me. I consistently return to water as a material and as a metaphor. I chose to use the Assembly Square watertower as my subject because it represents the human ingenuity to control water and the dependence we have on water to survive. It is a very familiar object in Somerville while at the same time it is something alien in the landscape. My choice of materials explores the qualities and effects of water.
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Jessica Straus- Site: La Contessa, 420 Highland Avenue
I have made many pieces using fish as imagery. The first piece was inspired by a set of dried fish from Reliable Market, an Asian grocery store in Union Square. These were purchased and given to me after I admired them and the photograph taken of them by my friend, Somerville photographer, Kay Canavino. I was intrigued that these little desiccated, flattened fish could ever have been alive and well and swimming freely. I did a painting of them, then a little sculpture, then perhaps twenty more fish related sculptures. The fish came to symbolize for me memory, the passage of time, and the inevitability of change. And, sometimes, as in the piece made for the Somerville Arts Council I have used the fish as have so many other artists over the millennium, simply as a beautiful object in its own right.
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Helen Thibeault - Site: Starbucks Coffee, 260 Elm Street
Living in Medford, the Mystic River is part of my day. I cross it and pass by it many times during the week. It's a source of inspiration for me, where water and land meet there is life. In search for meaning in my art and my life the river grounds me and comforts me. In this series of pastels I want to capture the flow of the Mystic River at early morning, noon, and evening while also tuning into the flow of the people moving around the river at these times of day. I hope my paintings will help people to see that there is an importance to the river and that we should do all that we can to protect and preserve it for future generations.
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Randal Thurston - site: Downtown Wine and Spirits, 225 Elm Street
I'm interested in nature. It can be seen as chaotic, with different species of animals and plants overlapping in a lush environment. It can also be viewed as a series of systems, a carefully organized and interdependent world of checks and balances.
This piece is a meditation on how we transform nature into art. Both scattered and tidy, it reflects our desire to collect, arrange, and display plants and animals in an effort to understand and interpret them. It is also about the Mystic River, not just as a local environment, but as a part of a global realm. By flowing into the ocean, it becomes involved with a much more diverse ecosystem filled with an endless variety of life.
By presenting both regional and far flung aquatic life, I've tried to embrace the Mystic River as both a local treasure and as the portal to a larger world.
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William Turville, Fish Car - Site: Various Parking Spots
"I think there are far more cars in the Mystic River than there are fish on the city streets."
Less than a century ago, there were far fewer cars and far more fish in Somerville. As a matter of fact, people in town were asked recently what river lies along. Many did not know the answer. I assume, though, that all those people drive cars and know where they keep them and fix them. So, city agencies, citizens' groups and artists decided to bring the Mystic River, a major city asset, to the publicÔs attention. But we still have a lot of cars here too. I like cars. I like fish. I think they can live harmoniously together in this city. Maybe cars are symbolic of our often brutally attractive (noisy, fast, polluting, but sleek and techie) "contemporary culture." Maybe fish are symbolic of nature and its gentle beauty (fast, sleek, quiet, clean). Maybe combining them helps to see both of them more clearly in the city.
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Urban Primitives - site: Planet Aid, 250 Elm Street
Our group of Urban Primitive artists is dedicated to uniting spiritual energy and the creative process. A landscaper, multi-medium assemblers/sculptors, and a watercolorist make up our group. Working in the year 2000 we agree with the importance of recycling. An environmentally conscious outlook prevails effortlessly as trash objects are transformed into artworks and cast aside organic materials develop into earthworks. Trying to merge two worlds that are usually so far removed from one another: business and spirituality, functioning in a business-oriented society and still trying to feed your soul. Participating Artists: Mary Galli, Alden Todd, Dawn Valone-Wilson, Emily Malin, Alan Standrowicz.
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V Van Sant, Go Fish! - Site: Kenney Park Fence,
Highland and Grove
Of course there are no goldfish in the Mystic river (well maybe some). But they are one of the most recognized fish, the first childhood pet, the feeder fish, the most taken for granted, the most expendable. They symbolize that even plentiful bounty can slowly disappear. I am hoping during their visit that some become worn in the elements. I am hoping some will be taken. This represents the Mystic River that becomes worn by nature and the seemingly innocent actions of man. Go Fish! is a whimsical way of looking at this natural, and unnatural, evolutional change in the river. The messages on the fish backs are for inspiration and fun. A special thanks to Susan Berstler for her "fin"spiration and help.
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Paul Weiner, Portrait of Randal Thurston in his Studio - Site: Downtown Wine & Spirits, 225 Elm Street
I am working on a photographic series illustrating the private world of artists. This series uses a careful arrangement of art and props in the artist's studio, as well as the use of dramatic lighting (created by "painting with light") to explore the relationship between the artist and their work. A surrealistic world based on elements of reality is created. This world, presented with the perceived realism inherent to a photograph, disorients the viewer and leads them to explore the relationships without the usual perceptions. Each image is a single exposure; there are no darkroom or computer manipulations.
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Yani Batteau gives "mermaid" rides.
Got fish? Preparing a giant fish for the parade.
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