Neighbor News
Arlington Arts Commission to Expand Pathways Public Art
ACAC Awarded Grant for PATHWAYS Expansion, Starting with Environmentally Aware Collaborative Work by New Artist-in-Residence Michelle Lougee
The Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture (ArtsArlington.org) has received a $2,500 grant from the Mass. Cultural Council to bring Michelle Lougee to town as Arlington’s first PATHWAYS artist-in-residence for a year-long collaborative public art project. Lougee is well known in the Boston area for her colorful sculpture, crocheted from recycled plastic bags and inspired by sea creatures, seed pods, and microscopic life forms.
Lougee normally works alone to execute her carefully crafted sculpture. Her goal in Arlington is to invite community members to help her create a larger scale artwork that will send a message about the power of a community coming together to reduce plastic and protect wildlife and the environment.
Arlington has been pro-active in environmental efforts, banning plastic bags from retail sales and reducing plastics in school lunchrooms. The ACAC and its Public Art Curator, Cecily Miller, hope that Arlington residents of all ages will participate in this creative project that will carry an environmental message into one of the Town’s busiest spaces – the Minuteman Bikeway – where thousands will see it every day.
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To kick off the residency, there will be a reception on Monday, December 9, from 7 to 9 pm hosted by the Robbins Library, one of the PATHWAYS project partners. The public is welcome to meet Michelle Lougee, see some of her work, and hear more about plans for free public workshops, where participants can learn her techniques and help make sculpture for the ACAC’s PATHWAYS initiative. Lougee crochets her inventive shapes from “plarn” – yarn made of slices of plastic bags. Please bring your own bags to donate to the project, especially newspaper subscription delivery bags.
ABOUT ACAC PROGRAMS
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The Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture is a townwide umbrella organization representing and promoting town-related arts and culture activities in Arlington, MA. ACAC publishes a free comprehensive online cultural calendar, Cultural District map, and artist support resource at ArtsArlington.org. PATHWAYS is an innovative public art initiative that explores issues that matter to Arlington and enhance the Town’s community connections.
