Self-Guided Design Tours | bostondesignweek

Boston Seaport’s public art program is home to both permanent and rotating installations by internationally and locally recognized artists, as well as locally designed works commissioned by its Design Seaport program. Seaport invites you to take a self-guided art tour of the neighborhood to learn more about its impressive public art program.   

Public installations currently on view:

Frank Stella | Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation I), 1970, Seaport Boulevard

Okuda San Miguel | Air. Sea. Land., Seaport Boulevard
Just Kids | Boston is the New Boston, One Seaport Courtyard
Ryan Adams | I Love You, All Of You, 111 Autumn Lane
Maria Molteni | A Sea Bird. 21 Stillings Street
Jon Burgerman | Looking Out For Each Other, 60 Seaport Courtyard
Tomislav Topic | Parade, 111 Harbor Way
1010 | The Passage, 111 Harbor Way

Underground at InkBlock

Underground at Ink Block

90 Traveler Street, Boston, MA 02118

Details: https://undergroundinkblock.com/about-2

Underground at Ink Block located under the highway and is easily accessible using public transportation and by pedestrian pathways from both the South End and South Boston. Space is free and outdoors to enjoy indefinitely.

Located under the highway between the city’s South End and South Boston neighborhoods. This urban park, cultural attraction and mixed-use parking facility is a space unlike anything seen before in this region. Underground at Ink Block is the successful transformation of an 8-acre underpass located between Boston’s South End and South Boston neighborhoods into an active urban park, cultural attraction and parking amenity. Landscaped pedestrian boardwalks and bicycle paths along the Fort Point Channel create new connections between communities previously separated by highway infrastructure.

"Gateway to Infinity (An Anti-monument)" by Maria Molteni

The Rose Kennedy Greenway

Atlantic Ave, Boston

Details: https://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/visit

Stretching 40 feet in diameter, Gateway to Infinity (An Anti-monument) is a large-scale groundwork by Boston-based queer, interdisciplinary artist Maria Molteni. Gateway to Infinity explores site-specific histories and collective rebirth through a design created during 10 months of extensive research by the artist. As with many of Molteni’s vibrant, massive groundworks, Gateway to Infinity features abstract symbols anchored in the land, sea, body, and celestial beings. Centered around a vibrant triple spiral motif –a three-limbed symbol known as a “triskeles/triskelion”– the groundwork may be viewed from an infinite range of angles and orientations, instead of a single, definitive perspective or starting point.

Located between Christopher Columbus Park and Faneuil Hall, the mural invites audiences to reflect upon and contend with these sites’ legacies, consider non-dominant narratives of place and public memory, and find personal connections with their own histories. By centering moving, living bodies upon a communal platform, rather than atop towering pedestals, Gateway to Infinity creates a colorful, multifaceted labyrinth and space for processing, releasing, and healing.

Jim Dine. "Two Big Black Hearts". 1985. Bronze. 12' x 12' x 33" each. Lent by Hamilton Arts Inc.

deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

51 Sandy Pond Rd, Lincoln MA 

Details: https://thetrustees.org/place/decordova

DeCordova is internationally recognized as a major venue for the exhibition and interpretation of modern and contemporary outdoor sculpture. The Sculpture Park occupies the entire campus: 30 acres of beautifully landscaped lawns, forests, fields, gardens, and terraces on a rolling site along the shore of Flint’s Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts. There are 62 sculptures on display in the Sculpture Park. The Sculpture Park reveals to visitors a cross-section of how contemporary artists work outdoors, and how outdoor art enters into complex dialogues with sites and environmental conditions. 

They did not know we were Seeds by Tanya Nixon-Silberg – Parker Hill Branch of the Boston Public Library

Now + There

Sites are free and outdoors to view indefinitely

Details: https://www.nowandthere.org/projects

Now + There supports artists and the public to create “bold public art experiences that open minds, conversations, and spaces across Boston, resulting in a more open, equitable, and vibrant city.” They are a public art curator challenging Boston’s cultural identity through compelling projects and artistic risks. The projects are temporary and sight-specific, hence the name.

Public installations currently on view:

Graft by Edra Soto, located at Central Wharf Park across from the New England Aquarium at 250 Atlantic Ave, Boston, MA.
Patterned Behavior by Silvia López Chavez, located on the Charles River Esplanade near the Mass Ave. Bridge. 
Breathe Life 3 by Problak (Rob Gibbs), located at 808 Tremont Street
Augment by Nick Cave, located at 555 Columbia Ave 
Deeply Rooted in the NeighborHOOD by “Johnetta Tinker & Susan Thompson”, located 345 Blue Hill Ave in the heart of Grove Hall.
Pa*Lante by Rixy, located at 301 Highland Avenue in Roxbury’s Fort Hill.
Slan Abhaile/Safe Home by Krystle Brown, located at Reverend Allen Park, Dorchester, 1-19 Church St, Boston, MA.
They did not know we were Seeds by Tanya Nixon-Silberg – Parker Hill Branch of the Boston Public Library

The Embrace

Martin Luther King Embrace Memorial

139 Tremont Street, Boston Common

For more information on Embrace Boston, the organization behind this memorial, click here: https://www.embraceboston.org

Boston’s newest major public art memorial is a stunning sight on the Boston Common. It’s an ode to the cultural journey of love and acceptance our city is still undertaking. The 20-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide artwork masterpiece is based off of the infamous embrace King enveloped his wife in after winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Though static, the sculpture includes a digital interactive experience online. It’s the perfect stop while enjoying a relaxing stroll on the Boston Common. (City of Boston photo.)

Mount Auburn Cemetery

Forest Hills Cemetery

bkfoxx-21-15-munroe-st-photo-by-ann-marie-casey-scaled.jpg

Good Intentions - Artist: BKFoxx

Dragon House of Jamaica Plain

ONLY ONLINE TOUR AVAILABLE

Frank Gehry, Ray and Maria Stata Center, 2004

Photo: MIT List Visual Arts Center

Mount Auburn Cemetery

580 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge

Details: https://mountauburn.org/visit/enjoy-mount-auburn/

There are many ways to experience Mount Auburn. It is a wonderful place to walk, to push a stroller, to look for wildlife, or to enjoy a bit of tranquility. We offer printed and electronic materials to help you learn more about the Cemetery’s history, the notable people buried here, the many monuments and buildings, and our plant collections. We also offer suggestions for exploring the Cemetery with young children.

If your main interest in coming to Mount Auburn is to take a leisurely stroll, the Cemetery offers miles of roads and paved paths to explore. We have two designated walking paths: an inner loop of 1 mile and outer loop of 2 miles.

Forest Hills Cemetery

95 Forest Hills Ave, Jamaica Plain, MA

Details: http://www.foresthillscemetery.com/self-guided-scholars-tour/

Forest Hills Cemetery is one of the finest examples of the garden cemetery in the United States. It was founded in 1848 to provide a magnificent park-like setting to bury and remember family and friends. Set among the important jewels of Greater Boston’s “Emerald Necklace”— the linked collection of parks and green spaces (the “jewels”) that ring the city — Forest Hills Cemetery is a treasure trove of natural splendor and man-made beauty. In recognition of its unique qualities, Forest Hills Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. A guide book is available on their website as you walk through the cemetery authored by cultural and design historian Elise Ciregna, PhD.

North of Boston - Murals

Details: http://northofboston.org/murals-in-the-area/

The North of Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc. (NBCVB) is a private, nonprofit, membership based organization responsible for promotion of Essex County as a travel destination.  Their website hosts a treasure trove collection of more than 100 of  the region’s outdoor, walkable murals available free to the public at all times in 15 different communities. The link above takes you to a collection of our region’s outdoor, walkable murals available free to the public at all times. We encourage you to visit different communities and experience the art and culture that North of Boston has to offer.

Boston Preservation Alliance

Online tour of this private home: Click Here

Thousands and thousands of buildings line Boston’s streets. But one house is different from all the rest. It takes a bit of determination to find it. The home is perched on a cliffside in Jamaica Plain and is accessible by a nearly vertical climb up a steep hill. But it’s worth it. At the top is The Dragon House.

It’s a dodecagon or twelve-sided house. However, it’s the number six that makes this house special. The home is made of three large hexagonal columns that rise three floors. Two of the columns hold rooms. The third column is an entryway with a twisting staircase that snakes through the home. Hexagons adorn the windows, appear in the floor, and surround the home. There is not a single 90-degree angle to be seen.

Take an online tour of the interior and learn more about Bob and Joan, the current stewards of this amazingly unique Boston Home.

Your support of the Boston Preservation Alliance is greatly appreciated. For information on how you can help visit

https://www.bostonpreservation.org

MIT List Visual Arts Center

Public Art & Architecture Walking Tour

MIT’s world-renowned Public Art Collection reaches across the Institute and is enjoyed by students and visitors alike. New works are added through the Percent-for-Art Program on the occasion of new campus construction. Recent additions include pieces by Olafur Eliasson, Jeffrey Gibson, Agnieszka Kurant, and Alicja Kwade. To access the Public Art & Architecture Map follow this link https://listart.mit.edu/visit/public-art-map

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Self-Guided Design Tours - Ongoing Throughout Boston Design Week

Public Art in Seaport

Underground at InkBlock

Mount Auburn Cemetery