Fall Public Art Series: From Conception to Completion Part 2

FPAC's Fall Public Art Series is funded by a grant from The Fund for The Arts, a public program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible by generous support from anonymous donors. Floating art is sponsored by generous support of The Friends of Fort Point Channel. Special thanks to the City of Boston, The Department of Public Works, and The Boston Art Commission for support and assistance.

An Interview with James McLeod & Sylvie Agudelo
"Embroidered"

FPAC: How did you come up with the inspiration for your public art project in Fort Point?

JM & SA: There was a call for temporary public art for open studios and at the time, there had been a number of physical changes in the neighborhood that had become more visible… many of the artists who had been here were gone.

SA: The changes were amplified because I was dealing with the death of a friend. At the time I had discovered some scrap books and quilts that had been contributed by other people and thought it would be interesting to find out how people think of this place (fort point). Many of my art installations incorporate time and collective memory as themes. Lately I have been studying ways to increase participation in public policy decision-making and effective community leadership, so the prospect of implementing a process to reach people who were not living here…was appealing.

FPAC: Was it difficult to choose a location within the area?

JM & SA: The location was chosen by FPAC. The location is difficult because one is working outside in changing weather and the wind really takes its toll on the work that is out there. It is a frequently travelled path and we want to keep the way safe for people and honor the safety features of the fence.

FPAC: Can you talk about your method and materials in constructing your project?

JM & SA: There was a lot of testing of materials prior to beginning. Prototypes have been hanging out my window for a few weeks. We had worked on other outdoor art pieces and had a good sense of how materials interact, but there were a number of new lessons we learned. Tyvek (material) uses up a lot of scissors and doesn't like to be crushed. Tempered glass cannot be cut. The fence is covered with a fine plastic coating and we didn't want to ruin it, so we switched the hanging method. I can tell you a lot about welding aluminum (a method we abandoned for this project), and I can tell you there are a lot of men in the neighborhood who know how to sew on machines. There are a lot of hands - on work in this project, which makes it more interesting, but it takes a lot of time. There is also a challenge of working with a wide range of people who aren't necessarily artists… so that has been interesting to find a common language both literally and visually. We helped in facilitating neighborhood collaboration and sharing different ways of viewing and doing public art.

FPAC: How do you hope your work will connect with the public and community?

SA & JM: People's submissions were surprising and so, so, so much fun to read. Their reactions to the work have been even more rewarding, and for me it has been nice to connect to people more directly. It is interesting to be directed by other people in making work. We took people's submissions and made work from those submissions, and it changed our original proposal a little bit. We hadn't planned for so many flowers, however the Wormwood Park garden was the number one submission. We hope the work cheers people up and gives them another reason to talk with one another.

FPAC: Dialogue, a simple thought to build a community relationship...

The fall public art projects were selected by a jury of artists, arts professionals, and community members:

Ricardo Barreto, Director of the UrbanArts Institute at Mass. College of Art & Design (Floating art only).  Kate Gilbert, Director of Public Programs and Outreach at Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, artist.  Danielle Pillion, Executive Director of Friends of Fort Point Channel.
Karen Stein, previous recipient of FPAC Public Art Series Funding, FPAC Board member, artist/designer of goodgood.  Mary Tinti, NEFA Public Art Fellow, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum Koch Curatorial Fellow.  Jane Marsching, Associate Professor at Massachusetts College of Art, artist.