HarborArts' New Public Art Project in the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina Expands Sculpture Park

By Laura Elsen and Marie Cornuelle

HarborArts, Inc., is now featuring an exhibition titled, Occupying The Present, showcasing 15 Boston area artists, at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina from June 29 through September 21, 2013. This site-specific exhibition rambles through the 14-acre working shipyard in East Boston, which will now double as Boston's largest public art space focused on provoking conversations about environmental change.

OccupyING The Present asks the viewer to think of East Boston and its shipyard not as a geographic space but as an artistic subject and canvas. Nature and human beings collide, shaping each other through an ever-changing dialogue of seasons, tides, ships, and machinery. How do we “occupy the present” when our local community-based decisions can have global, environmental implications? By drawing attention to pertinent questions of how civilizations impact the natural world, artists like Wendy Wolf (Newton, Mass.) seek to "manufacture" nature in an urban landscape by translating the harbor’s native rockweed into an urban expression of graffiti.

Bette Ann Libby (Brookline, Mass.) encourages introspection with her piece, Portholes. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) film and mylar, Libby transforms windows into mirrors.

"Usually a porthole is looking out from within a [nautical] vessel," she explains. "In this case, the porthole is reflecting the environment back at the viewer." Similarly, Nora Valdez (Boston, Mass.) finds that our present moment can often be occupied inwardly by thoughts of the past. Her sculpted figure, Still Waiting, curls tightly in on itself, recalling a human hope that pines for "something that will never return."

To see these works and listen to artist talks, grab a map at the entrance of the marina and go on a public art scavenger hunt looking for all the installations currently on display at the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina. Some of the work is integrated into the docks or towering above from buildings, creating a stroll full of startling scenery and provocative imagery set against the dynamic energy of a working shipyard. 

Visit HarborArts, Inc., during the opening the reception on Saturday, June 29, 2013, from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The reception will feature a children’s sculpture-building workshop in the afternoon and a jazz concert by the Joel Press Combo in the evening. A closing reception will be held in conjunction with the HarborArts Festival on September 21, 2013.

This exhibition is generously supported by the East Boston Foundation, the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, with additional contributions from ATI, The Firefly Arts Collective, Heritage Housing, Patricia Gately and Fran Bull.

OccupyING The Present is curated by Elizabeth Michelman, a Brookline-based artist and arts critic, with the collaboration of Studios Without Walls in Brookline, Mass. Michelman will be conducting a walking tour of the exhibition during the opening reception. For more information on Studios Without Walls please visit www.studioswithoutwalls.org.

Gallery hours are dawn to dusk, Monday through Sunday. Visitor parking is permitted on Marginal Street outside of the shipyard. The exhibition and all related events are free and open to the public. For more information on OccupyING The Present and a full schedule of artist talks or events, please visit www.harborarts.org or go to the exhibition's Website at www.occupyingthepresent.org for a preview of the work.

WHAT: OccupyING The Present
WHEN: June 29 through September 21, 2013
WHERE: Boston Harbor Marina & Shipyard, 21 Marginal Street, East Boston, MA, 02128
HOW TO GET THERE: Public Transportation: Blue Line outbound to Maverick Station. East on Maverick Street toward Bremen Street. Turn right onto Bremen then left onto Marginal Street. Boston Harbor Marina & Shipyard is at the end of Marginal Street.