The Greenway Conservancy’s Public Art Program has paved the way for The Greenway to become a premier destination to see contemporary works of art in downtown Boston. The public art vision is to bring innovative and contemporary art to Boston through free, temporary exhibitions, engaging people in meaningful experiences, interactions and dialogue with art and each other.
A Mouse with Ears and Tail, a neon light sculpture on view on above a waterfall on the Serpentine Path near the Chinatown gate, was commissioned from local artist Furen Dai as part of the Conservancy’s annual zodiac animal series. With the aim of celebrating both past and present, each year a new artwork has been installed by the Conservancy in front of the Essex Street Gate for the past six years. For her artwork based on the Year of the Mouse, Dai researched the evolutionary process of the Chinese character “鼠” (mouse) from the ancient oracle bone script to the contemporary SimSun font.
When foreign language characters are placed in a different cultural context, those without knowledge of the language tend to read the character as a series of abstract lines and shapes. This artwork explores the experience of viewing a Chinese character from both a native and foreign perspective, encouraging both Chinese speakers and non-Chinese speakers to see “mouse” when viewing “鼠”. In this work, the small mouse of the ancient Oracle bone script races around the contemporary SimSun font, which is in turn transformed into a cartoon mouse figure blinking and beckoning us in with its warm, neon glow.
Nearby at the Lincoln Street Triangle on The Greenway, Juan Travieso’s mural, Engulf, addresses the challenges brought by gentrification and climate change. Travieso’s piece was installed in 2019 in partnership with the Punto Urban Arts Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
This summer, the Conservancy is proud to update the community on Lantern Stories, a community based artwork by artist Yu-Wen Wu. Chosen by a community jury, Yu-Wen’s work celebrates Boston’s Chinatown community, illuminating its resilient history and enduring hope for the future during these unprecedented times.
Further along The Greenway, the Conservancy recently announced the installation of new artwork by renowned British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. In his artwork, Shonibare explores colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalization. The Conservancy has commissioned a new Wind Sculpture (SG) V, which is exhibited in a contemplative garden on The Greenway, just north of Dewey Square. The 22-foot-tall sculpture features a new variation of Shonibare’s trademark batik that appears to harness the wind and freeze it in a moment of time. Batik, which we now regard as traditional African cloth, is based on Indonesian batik fabric first brought to Africa by Dutch traders in the 1800s. Throughout Shonibare’s work, the material serves as a metaphor for our contemporary cultures, which, like the “African” batik, are the result of centuries of cross-cultural exchange. By referencing both this hybrid fabric and the powerful yet invisible nature of wind, the work suggests that identity is always a richly layered and dynamic set of relationships, while evoking a sense of freedom, possibility, and optimism.
Installed in June, Catalina Delgado-Trunk’s work, Global Connections: Mesoamerican Myths, the Domestication of Nourishment, and its Distribution, focuses on our interconnectedness through themes of food culture and immigration. Located on The Greenway Light Blades, Delgado-Trunk’s world renowned papel picado (cut paper) artwork illustrates Mesoamerican mythology, histories of food trade, and the foundational elements of all our lives.
In his monumental mural at Dewey Square, international artist Super A questions the social, political, and emotional systems that confine our freedom in Resonance. The Conservancy’s Augmented Reality (AR) exhibit blends interactive digital elements into our real-world environments through the overlay of historical imagery and contemporary art responding to the ever-changing nature of what once was a major transportation corridor through downtown Boston. Through a curatorial partnership with Boston Cyberarts and Hoverlay, the Conservancy commissioned three prominent AR artists and historian Amy D. Finstein; the works may be viewed on The Greenway or in your own living room or backyard through the Conservancy’s #BringTheGreenwayHome initiative through August.
In Chin Park, the Greenway PlayCubes are open for children with a supervising adult and Greenway Fountains across the park are running, including the Chinatown Stream along the Serpentine Path. Conservancy Zone Volunteers are working across The Greenway, as well as volunteers working on Group Volunteer Projects.
Nearby on Dewey Square, City Winery on The Greenway opened for the season on July 15, serving wine from City Winery Boston and cider and beer from Harpoon Brewery. Our Greenway Food Truck Program is on a limited schedule and the Boston Public Market at Dewey Square has returned for the season, once again bringing locally-sourced food to those who live or work downtown from local farmers and small businesses. Farmer’s market vendors are proud to accept SNAP/EBT and HIP for all eligible products.
Further along The Greenway, our Greenway Open Market takes place every Saturday and first and third Sundays of the month and the Greenway Carousel at the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Grove is operating on a limited weekend schedule. All Greenway programming features enhanced cleaning and physical distancing procedures to promote safety for our park visitors.
