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Check Out the Hub's Must-See Public Art for Summer 2015

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Our thoroughly updated Public Art Heatmap for the summer of 2015 includes the recently unveiled Sean Collier memorial for the M.I.T. police officer whom the Marathon bombers murdered two years ago. There is also Janet Echelman's ginormous aerial sculpture above Fort Point Channel Park along the Greenway and the walk-through luminarium coming to the Lawn on D in just over a week. There are also a fair amount of monuments and at least one mural. And bells.


· How a 1-Ton Sculpture Will Float 365 Feet Above the Greenway [Curbed Boston]
· Here's How Mind-Blowing the Lawn on D Maze Will Be [Curbed Boston]
· M.I.T. Unveils 190-Ton Memorial Dedicated to Sean Collier, Officer Slain by Boston Marathon Bombers [Curbed National]
· Our Public Art archive [Curbed Boston]

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As If It Were Already Here (a.k.a.) the Greenway Aerial Monster

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Brookline artist Janet Echelman's phenomenal one-ton aerial sculpture went up over the Greenway in May and will loom over Fort Point Channel Park into October. It spans 20,050 square feet and includes around 500,000 hand-tied knots.

Boston Harbor Shipyard Tattoo

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Liz LaManche, the artist behind Boston City Hall's Stairs of Fabulousness, finished these giant tattoos last fall on the shipyard's pier.

Sean Collier Memorial

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M.I.T. in April unveiled this memorial to the campus police officer Sean Collier, who the Boston Marathon bombers murdered two years before. Thirty-two solid granite blocks form a five-way stone vault, creating a central, covered space for reflection, according to the university. M.I.T. architect J. Meejin Yoon designed it.

Alexander Hamilton Statue

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William Rimmer sculpted this granite monument during the Civil War, deliberately draping the first Treasury secretary in folds reminiscent of Roman imperial robes.

George Washington Equestrian Statue

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At 38 feet high (with 11 feet underground mooring it), this bronze monument depicting the first president in his Revolutionary garb is one of Boston’s biggest single pieces of public art. It was sculpted by Thomas Ball.

Garden Of Remembrance

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Crafted by Victor Walker in pink granite, this monument in the Public Garden honors the more than 200 people with Massachusetts ties who were murdered on Sept. 11, 2001.

General Hooker Statue

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Unveiled in 1903, it commemorates Joseph Hooker, who commanded the Army of the Potomac in 1863, declaring, “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.”

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

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The elaborate memorial on Flagstaff Hill, erected in 1877, served as a model for Civil War monuments nationwide (not least because it commemorated ordinary soldiers as well as top officers).

Robert Gould Shaw Memorial

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Perhaps the most famous Civil War memorial in New England, thanks to the movie "Glory," the bronze relief by Augustus Saint-Gaudens commemorates the first African-American regiment in the U.S. Army.

The Charlestown Bells

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The interactive bells designed by Paul Matisse, grandson of Henri, along the Charles River Dam were restored a couple of years ago.

Revolutionary Figures in Fort Washington Park

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Remarkably creepy and cool at the same time, these five life-size painted-steel silhouettes—four minutemen and a Victorian-era woman—commemorate George Washington’s siege of Boston in 1775. Designed by Madeline Lord in the late 1980s, they are spread over Fort Washington Park.

International Harbor Arts Outdoor Gallery

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A year-round display at the 14-acre Boston Harbor Shipyard, this features 2D and 3D works by 30 artists from three continents. And—you guessed it—each work emphasizes the roles of oceans, harbors, rivers, etc.

Using steel, steam, light, honey locust trees and greenwave shrubs in Thomas J. Murphy Park, a team of M.I.T. artists in 1990 collaborated with landscape architects, urban designers and engineers to make this multi-stage work more akin to a Kiss concert than to public art.

Monks Garden

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The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum unveiled the redesign of the gardens in September 2013. Michael Van Valkenburgh designed the greenery (he also put the chairs in Harvard Yard).

Carl Yastrzemski Statue

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The statue of the Red Sox great was unveiled in September 2013 outside of Gate B at Fenway.

The New England Holocaust Memorial

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The powerfully evocative memorial to the victims of German atrocities is open 24-7.

Pear Statue

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It's certainly... interesting, this bronze depiction of a giant Clapp pear unveiled in 2007 by Somerville artist Laura Baring-Gould.

Seven Moon Junction Mural

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Shinique Smith created this 70-by-76-foot temporary mural in Dewey Square, which was installed in September 2015 and will be on display through August. The work is part of a larger exhibit by Smith at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Original Boston Marathon Memorial

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The granite sculpture by Robert Shure and Robert Lamb was installed in Copley Square in 1996 to mark the race's 100th anniversary. It has, of course, in the last two years taken on a different, deeper meaning.

Pentalum Luminarium at the Lawn on D

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This luminarium, which opens to the public (for a small admission fee) on May 28, is a "celebration of the beauty of geometry," according to its designer, Alan Parkinson.

Irish Famine Memorial

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The memorial commemorates the famine that started in 1845 that led not only to hundreds of thousands of deaths, but to a mass emigration to the U.S.

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As If It Were Already Here (a.k.a.) the Greenway Aerial Monster

Brookline artist Janet Echelman's phenomenal one-ton aerial sculpture went up over the Greenway in May and will loom over Fort Point Channel Park into October. It spans 20,050 square feet and includes around 500,000 hand-tied knots.

Boston Harbor Shipyard Tattoo

Liz LaManche, the artist behind Boston City Hall's Stairs of Fabulousness, finished these giant tattoos last fall on the shipyard's pier.

Sean Collier Memorial

M.I.T. in April unveiled this memorial to the campus police officer Sean Collier, who the Boston Marathon bombers murdered two years before. Thirty-two solid granite blocks form a five-way stone vault, creating a central, covered space for reflection, according to the university. M.I.T. architect J. Meejin Yoon designed it.

Alexander Hamilton Statue

William Rimmer sculpted this granite monument during the Civil War, deliberately draping the first Treasury secretary in folds reminiscent of Roman imperial robes.

George Washington Equestrian Statue

At 38 feet high (with 11 feet underground mooring it), this bronze monument depicting the first president in his Revolutionary garb is one of Boston’s biggest single pieces of public art. It was sculpted by Thomas Ball.

Garden Of Remembrance

Crafted by Victor Walker in pink granite, this monument in the Public Garden honors the more than 200 people with Massachusetts ties who were murdered on Sept. 11, 2001.

General Hooker Statue

Unveiled in 1903, it commemorates Joseph Hooker, who commanded the Army of the Potomac in 1863, declaring, “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.”

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

The elaborate memorial on Flagstaff Hill, erected in 1877, served as a model for Civil War monuments nationwide (not least because it commemorated ordinary soldiers as well as top officers).

Robert Gould Shaw Memorial

Perhaps the most famous Civil War memorial in New England, thanks to the movie "Glory," the bronze relief by Augustus Saint-Gaudens commemorates the first African-American regiment in the U.S. Army.

The Charlestown Bells

The interactive bells designed by Paul Matisse, grandson of Henri, along the Charles River Dam were restored a couple of years ago.

Revolutionary Figures in Fort Washington Park

Remarkably creepy and cool at the same time, these five life-size painted-steel silhouettes—four minutemen and a Victorian-era woman—commemorate George Washington’s siege of Boston in 1775. Designed by Madeline Lord in the late 1980s, they are spread over Fort Washington Park.

International Harbor Arts Outdoor Gallery

A year-round display at the 14-acre Boston Harbor Shipyard, this features 2D and 3D works by 30 artists from three continents. And—you guessed it—each work emphasizes the roles of oceans, harbors, rivers, etc.

Galaxy

Using steel, steam, light, honey locust trees and greenwave shrubs in Thomas J. Murphy Park, a team of M.I.T. artists in 1990 collaborated with landscape architects, urban designers and engineers to make this multi-stage work more akin to a Kiss concert than to public art.

Monks Garden

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum unveiled the redesign of the gardens in September 2013. Michael Van Valkenburgh designed the greenery (he also put the chairs in Harvard Yard).

Carl Yastrzemski Statue

The statue of the Red Sox great was unveiled in September 2013 outside of Gate B at Fenway.

The New England Holocaust Memorial

The powerfully evocative memorial to the victims of German atrocities is open 24-7.

Pear Statue

It's certainly... interesting, this bronze depiction of a giant Clapp pear unveiled in 2007 by Somerville artist Laura Baring-Gould.

Seven Moon Junction Mural

Shinique Smith created this 70-by-76-foot temporary mural in Dewey Square, which was installed in September 2015 and will be on display through August. The work is part of a larger exhibit by Smith at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Original Boston Marathon Memorial

The granite sculpture by Robert Shure and Robert Lamb was installed in Copley Square in 1996 to mark the race's 100th anniversary. It has, of course, in the last two years taken on a different, deeper meaning.

Pentalum Luminarium at the Lawn on D

This luminarium, which opens to the public (for a small admission fee) on May 28, is a "celebration of the beauty of geometry," according to its designer, Alan Parkinson.

Irish Famine Memorial

The memorial commemorates the famine that started in 1845 that led not only to hundreds of thousands of deaths, but to a mass emigration to the U.S.