Multi-Artist Digital Art Canvas Showcases Local, Regional & National Artists on a New Scale
The new digital art canvas at Assembly Row, titled “The Conversation” will go live at 1pm on August 24, 2021. Located on Grand Union Blvd between Canal Street and Foley Street, Somerville, MA, the installation is on the façade of 455 Grand Union Boulevard, the neighborhood’s newest office tower.
This debut of a six-story high permanent public art installation called “The Conversation” is the newest of a series of art activations that have made Assembly Row one of the most exciting destinations in Somerville. This “new-media” art wall is a giant LED screen in the shape of three heads looking left, right, and center. “The Conversation” is a multi-artist media façade with digital artworks shown in sequence throughout the day and night. It is an opportunity for local, regional, and national artists to showcase their work at an entirely new scale, on a one-of-a-kind digital LED canvas.
These heads represent the coming together of ideas, people, and communities.
At a turning point in the history of humanity, conversation is now more important than ever. Conversation can be an opportunity to connect, discuss, and understand something outside ourselves. It gives us the opportunity to build bridges and knock down barriers – to create communities where there once were divides. This canvas puts conversation on display, and provides a place where artists can showcase thought provoking and forward-looking content.
“The Conversation” continues to build on Federal’s commitment to public art throughout Assembly Row while taking that effort to another level of visibility and permanence,” said David Middleton, General Manager for Federal Realty at Assembly Row. “We are grateful to the whole team that came together not only with an impactful digital canvas for a comprehensive plan to ensure it will continue to make a statement and support the community for years to come.”
The process of creating a platform for inclusive public art has never been more important. It is an expression of collective agency at a time when the public is calling for new ways of defining who we are as a culture, and new possibilities for how to move forward into a world less divided.
This multi-artwork digital canvas will feature a series of local artists, which will be showcased in sequence over the coming months.
The First Featured Artwork: The first artist team selected to create content for the wall is Studio HHH, a Somerville-based, all female team, led by artist and designer Vanessa Till Hooper. Studio HHH specializes in interactive artwork, and architecturally integrated installations. Their inaugural contribution to this new canvas also bears the title of the installation, “The Conversation,” and speaks directly to the driving purpose of this permanent public art canvas. The video artwork depicts a series of overlapping portraits of a wide range of people from the local community. These participants are shown in the process of having a conversation, but not a verbal conversation, none of the participants are speaking. It shows, rather, footage of what the participants look like while actively listening to each other’s stories. This artwork reminds us that productive communication is only possible when we take the time to truly listen. By weaving together these moving portraits using techniques of double-exposure, this artwork strives to show how through listening, we can better understand our differences and empathize with each other’s lived experiences, and thus begin to develop deeper connection and perhaps eventually unity.
The Next Artists in the Series: Following featured artists will include Peter Zebbler, a local icon of the projection art community, Cedric “Vice 1” Douglas, an established muralist and creator of “The People’s Memorial Project,” Pamela Hersch, a local multidisciplinary projection artist, Callie Chapman, a Somerville resident and established dancer, choreographer and digital artist, and Bruce Rosenbaum, a specialist in Steampunk aesthetic.
“The Conversation” will be on view at Assembly Row, Somerville beginning August 24, 2021.
The concept for “The Conversation” came out of a collaborative discussion about placemaking between DCL, the ILLUMINUS creative team, Federal Realty, and their urban planning and design team, Street-Works. The goal was to create an opportunity where the exciting work being developed by new media artists and performing artists could have a permanent presence, rather than to only be experienced as projection events or temporal performances. Using the ILLUMINUS festival as a model, the Federal Realty team saw how creating a platform for local artists not only contributed to the placemaking of Assembly Row, but was also aligned with their vision of contributing to a movement. By supporting the local community to develop artwork that addresses the most important issues of our time, “The Conversation” aims to create a platform where artistic presence and vision can be seen and realized at an entirely new scale in the city of Somerville.
This canvas will not be limited to professional artists, it is designed to also host content created by local community members who can use this canvas as an opportunity to participate in telling their own stories, as well as opportunities to develop community identity and to celebrate community achievements.
The execution of this large-scale architectural undertaking was only possible because of a partnership with DCL (Design Communications Ltd.), who worked with the design team, Street-Works Studio, from the early stages of project feasibility through technology integration. DCL is an award-winning manufacturer of specialty architectural elements, custom signage, and integrated digital media for the built environment. With people, experience, and knowledge, DCL partners with architects and designers to provide innovative solutions for notable projects worldwide. Learn and see more about DCL’s custom manufacturing, fabrication, installation and creative technology services, visit http://www.designcommunicationsltd.com
Street-Works Studio is a design, master-planning and placemaking boutique that helps clients build places people love. Since its founding in 2012, Street-Works Studio has helped developers, brokers, investors and governments transform opportunistic assets, reenergize the urban core, and add value across portfolios with award-winning public realm design and experience rich built environments for residential, office, retail and public use. Street-Works Studio has designed and planned for over 100 neighborhoods and projects nationwide, working alongside architects and engineers for their clients to ensure vision, project potential and long-term value are carried throughout the process. Learn and see more at www.streetworks-studio.com.
About Assembly Row:
Assembly Row is one of Greater Boston’s fastest growing neighborhood destinations. Conveniently located along I-93 and with direct access to Downtown Boston via the Orange Line and its dedicated MBTA station, Assembly Row is a dynamic neighborhood that offers first-class working, living, shopping, entertainment, and dining experiences. With Phase III now underway, Assembly Row boasts 830k square feet of office space, 1,000 residential units, a 158-key hotel, and 500k square feet of retail, restaurant, and entertainment. When fully built across 40 acres along the Mystic River, the Assembly Row neighborhood will feature a total of 635,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 2.0 million square feet of office space, and 1,800 residences.
Assembly Row currently offers more than 30 national brands, including Sephora, Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike Factory, Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, and J. Crew Factory. Entertainment options include the 12-screen AMC Assembly Row 12 and IMAX, the only LEGOLAND Discovery Center in New England and Lucky Strike Social. More than a dozen eateries line the Riverfront Park and streets, including Shake Shack, sweetgreen, Legal On The Mystic, Earl’s Kitchen + Bar, Tony C’s, River Bar, The Smoke Shop and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. For more information please visit AssemblyRow.com.
About Federal Realty:
Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail-based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, Federal Realty’s mission is to deliver long-term, sustainable growth through investing in communities where retail demand exceeds supply. Its expertise includes creating urban, mixed-use neighborhoods like Santana Row in San Jose, California, Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland and Assembly Row in Somerville, Massachusetts. These unique and vibrant environments that combine shopping, dining, living and working provide a destination experience valued by their respective communities. Federal Realty’s 101 properties include approximately 2,800 tenants, in 23 million square feet, and approximately 2,900 residential units.
Federal Realty has increased its quarterly dividends to its shareholders for 53 consecutive years, the longest record in the REIT industry. Federal Realty is an S&P 500 index member and its shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbol FRT. For additional information about Federal Realty and its properties, visit www.federalrealty.com.
