Lynn arts group lands $15G grant

LYNN – Centerboard is looking to launch another attack on Central Square with the implicit purpose of turning the area into a public urban art scene.”We got a grant from the New England Foundations for the Arts (NEFA) to do more public art,” said Carla Scheri, who is in charge of special projects for Centerboard. “We thought it would be cool to stick to the Central Square area where we already have the photographs.”Centerboard, an organization aimed at revitalizing the city through art and education, has teamed up with the Downtown Lynn Cultural District to invite artists to apply to take part in a cultural district mural project. Four artists or teams of artists will be chosen to create murals at the corner of Exchange and Mount Vernon streets. The $15,000 grant will pay for the project in part but the trick is the murals must be created to fit with the arched walls beneath the MBTA train tracks.Scheri said the goal of the Mural Project is to keep the momentum going that has been created by the community and the revitalization already going on in the area. The pieces should reflect the diversity of the city as well as “the theme of light and inspire civic responsibility,” she said.Uniqueness is encouraged and designs must be suitable for public viewing.The Mural Project, however, is just part of a bigger vision for the area, Scheri said. Scheri along with artist Adam Miller, Laura Menucci from Raw Art Works, Lynn Museum Director Kate Luchini and downtown resident and business owner Allison Goldberg make up a committee that is driving both the Mural Project and a larger art agenda.Scheri said they would like to add a sculpture to the area that ideally would be switched out for another after a year’s time.”It would give us the opportunity to put multiple artists to work and it would keep it fresh,” she said.The group also pictures an LED light treatment that would include the tunnel that leads to the train tracks staircase, Scheri added.”We want to make it a destination for public art,” she said. “Ultimately we want to come up with something engaging to the public, malleable, ever changing, so people will want to come and see what’s next.”Nothing will be started until spring, however. Artists must submit their proposals to Scheri at Centerboard, 16 City Hall Square, by Jan. 6, then the committee will review them and make a decision. She said she expects there will be an unveiling in the spring, “when it’s not 4-degrees outside.”The group will then turn to fundraising to support its greater vision, Scheri said, adding that Community Development Director James Marsh, Anne Marie Leonard also from Community Development, Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Executive Director James Cowdell and his co-worker Allison Perry, are also collaborating on the project.”The plan is to make this a true collaborative effort to keep the momentum of the Downtown Lynn Cultural District moving forward,” Scheri said. “Our motivation always is to do what we can to beautify the space. Whatever we do we hope it adds to the beauty of the space.”