Devens seeking artists to make interactive mural – Sentinel and Enterprise

Overview of the Devens area. (COURTESY DEVENS ENTERPRISE COMMISSION)

DEVENS — The Devens Enterprise Commission and MassDevelopment invite artists from throughout the state to submit application materials for consideration for the award of a $15,000 grant to create a temporary public art installation near the Willard Field Complex.

And they’re looking for an artist, or team of artists, to design and create a mural on pavement with an interactive element in an underutilized public recreational space in Devens near the intersection of Antietam Street and Sherman Avenue.

“[The goal is] to advance and support public art and utilize it as a tool for placemaking; to activate an underutilized recreational area; to attract visitors to notice the space and reflect on Devens’ cultural and community identity and engage with the art and the space; and to bring joy, color, beauty, a sense of belonging, and hope,” said a press release about the call for artists.

The awarded artist or artist team will conduct at least one community engagement session and interviews with key project interest groups to better inform their art design. The location is an area of approximately 2,000 square feet near active recreation fields, a playground, sledding hill, and a former roadway that is now open to the public for non-vehicular uses.

The theme of the project is “Intersections of Communities and Cultures.”

“Devens has a rich history as an area adjacent to the Nashua River and a former military base with a multicultural and transient population. Devens is on the traditional lands of the Nipmuc people, and Nashua River means ‘river with a pebble bottom,’” said the press release.

Volunteer stakeholders from Devens and surrounding communities will comprise the Advisory Group/review committee for the artist selection process.

Find the call to artists at www.DevensEC.com/News/Devens_Call_to_Artists_Final.pdf. Find additional documents at www.DevensEC.com/PublicArt.html.

–Devens Enterprise Commission