Urbano Project Brings Two Public Art Installations to the Egleston Square Public Library This Month

Urbano Project has announced the celebratory culmination of its Spring 2022 Projects: "Calling Home," a Community Art Project with Artist-in-Residence (AiR) Krystle Brown exploring housing justice in Boston, and "Message From a Sidewalk," a Youth Artist Project with AiR Ponnapa Prakkamakul investigating the boundaries of public space. These are the final programs in Urbano's 2021-22 curatorial theme of "Democracy," a year-long series of arts programming that has focused on community organizing, placemaking, public art, activism, participation, and social practice.

On Saturday, June 18, Urbano will host a dual-celebration of the two projects, in which the artists will present their interactive public art installations created in collaboration with youth and community participants at the Egleston Square Branch of the Boston Public Library.

"Calling Home" is Urbano's first foray into a new series of Community Art Projects that are intergenerational, collaborative courses in contemporary art, in which adult participants (ages 19-65+) work with an Urbano Artist-in-Residence to create a participatory art project in and with a specific Boston community. Brown's project asks: How can democracy exist when people cannot afford housing? Since March 2022, Brown and the project's nine participants have been learning about housing justice and the crises of housing insecurity, gentrification, and displacement in Boston, and exploring ways to voice the changes and challenges faced in their own neighborhoods and communities through auto-biographical storytelling.

At the June 18 celebration, the group will present their collaborative installation at a defunct phone booth located at the intersection of Columbus Ave and Washington St in Egleston Square (approx. address: 1951 Columbus Ave). Passers-by can engage with the participants' stories, both audio-recorded and written in Spanish and English, through a QR code or a physical "phone book" publication. The public is also invited to contribute their own stories with housing struggles via email (callinghomeproject@gmail.com) or by leaving a voicemail at (978) 219-4014. Through the sharing of these stories, the project aims to emphasize our common struggles with housing insecurity, spark community dialogue, and engender collective healing. The site-specific installation will be permanently on view.

Since April 2022, young artists in Ponnapa Prakkamakul's "Message From a Sidewalk" Youth Artist Project have been investigating the boundaries of public space, and learning about street art, public art, social equity, play, and design. This project asks: how can street art act as a tool to raise awareness, inspire critical thinking, and create an inclusive space for everyone? In response, Youth Artists have designed and created a series of semi- permanent, participatory hopscotch games on the sidewalks surrounding the Egleston Square Public Library. The interventionist installation aims to express the student's ideas of democracy and engage the Egleston Square community of all ages in conversations about democracy. At the June 18 celebration, Prakkamakul and Youth Artists will guide the public through the different games they have created.

Register here for the final celebration on Saturday, June 18 from 11AM - 1:30PM at Egleston Square Public Library (2044 Columbus Ave, Boston, MA). Following an introductory presentation at the library with food and drink, the artists and participants will lead walking tours of their projects and interactive art activities for all ages. Printed maps will also be available for self-guided tours.

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