sparc! The Artmobile connects the MassArt community to the surrounding neighborhood, bringing art-making to the Boston area through collaboration. During the pandemic the amount of community-based projects were limited, so they came up with the idea to create Chain Link Galleries. sparc! transforms highly visible chain link fences into outdoor galleries featuring the work of community artists and selected writings.
"The aim of the project was to provide inspiration, encouragement, and visual vitality to our community. As we navigate these uncertain times, art can provide a healing balm to the soul and allow us to collectively envision a future of new possibilities."
When I joined the team, I was asked to redesign the Chainlink Gallery "template" (although each artist is completely different, so each gallery tends to represent that), and we began with the incredible monumental sculptor Fern Cunningham Terry.
At five feet tall this was the biggest I have ever designed for print. We had them printed on vinyl signage and installed them on the fence on Columbus Avenue outside Roxbury Community College, where hundreds of people drive by everyday (see the pictures below – it was very windy that day!).
I included a fence motif behind the excerpted poem, along with the African Adinkra symbol for "Fern." I collaged some of her most famous pieces together and included a map to show the people walking by where they could go to see the pieces in reality.
The next installation I designed was focused on the incredible pan-African multi-media artist Stephen Hamilton. Just like the Cunningham-Terry installation I included a bio page about Hamilton, an about page for sparc!, and a map showing where in West Africa each piece was inspired from.
Originally installed on the chainlink fence across the street from the Grove Hall Public Library, the installation has now been rotated to the Roxbury Community College fence. Below are closeups of the digital files as well as some photos from the installation itself.
