New Public Art In Brookline To Light Up Coolidge Corner

From Hilary Zelson: The artist who floated a giant lamb in Boston in 2015 is unveiling a winter-blooming flower public art project in Coolidge Corner. Artist Hilary Zelson is creating garlands of artificial rose-blossoms that will illuminate Brookline’s Coolidge Corner at the intersection of Harvard and Beacon streets this holiday season.

“Winter Blooms” will be on view from November 15 (dependent on weather) to the end of January. She will suspend the 60-foot-long chains of silicone flowers from street lights and they'll appear white during the daytime then light up each evening with pink, orange and yellow LEDs.

“How can I add warmth and bring life to this neighborhood?” the Waltham-based artist asked herself when coming up with the idea. She aims for the glowing winter blossoms to add light and enchantment to the neighborhood during the longest nights of the year—the goal of holiday celebrations from numerous traditions.

Zelson’s installation of the temporary public artwork coincides with First Light Brookline from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 30, the annual town cultural festival and night of holiday shopping that encourages visitors to buy locally. A public reception with the artist will be held in conjunction with First Light at Brookline Bank (1324 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446) from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 30, 2017.

Shorter garlands – including paper flowers made by community members during free workshops led by Zelson – will also be displayed in Brookline Bank’s storefront windows.

“Winter Blooms” is a project supported by the Brookline Arts Center, Brookline Commission for the Arts and the Town of Brookline.

Zelson’s glowing winter garlands are part of her ongoing series of public artworks. In 2015, she attracted attention when she floated a 10-foot tall Styrofoam sheep and lamb on a patch of artificial grass in Boston’s Fort Point Channel. (Boston Globe Coverage) Her “Spectacle Butterfly”—a giant monarch butterfly assembled from thousands of red, orange, and black sunglass lenses for a stained-glass effect—is on view at the Nashville International Airport from March 2017 to January 2018. The project was commissioned as part of the annual Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. (Nashville Arts Magazine Coverage) For 2013’s "Play Me, I'm Yours" street piano festival around Boston, she added an easel atop a baby grand piano and got the combination stationed outside Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts for three weeks.

For more information about Zelson’s project visit here.

Image courtesy for Hilary Zelson