LYNN — Construction of the city-commissioned “Laces of Lynn” sculpture began Monday morning at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Street and Exchange Street.
Near the MBTA overpass on Mt. Vernon Street sits an approximately five-foot web of steel shoelaces painted in a variety of colors. Carved into each shoelace, a series of adjectives, which, Artist Kevin Orlosky said, represent the way that the people of Lynn describe themselves.
“I engaged with residents all around the city asking them to submit a word that best describes themselves, and so all of these words got put into these shoelaces. The shoelaces represent the shoemaking history of Lynn, and it also symbolizes community connection. So all these attributes of everyone in the city holding each other up, interweaving, connecting, all of these different paths coming together through this kind of wave-like motion,” Orlosky said.
In 2020, Lynnspiration, a collaborative effort between the City of Lynn and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, released a national call for artists to design a sculpture to be placed in the Mt. Vernon Street Plaza.
Orlosky said that he was glad to have been chosen as the winning finalist, and that his work, which centers around community engagement, fits perfectly with the program’s goal to engage the community.
“Their big focus was community engagement, and that’s what I focus on with my artwork, engaging the community so that the artwork that’s in the public belongs to the public and is made by the public,” Orlosky said.
Working alongside Orlosky were Paul and Michael Pichetti from Pick Crane Services in Needham. He said that the structure was originally going to be a combination of four shoelace webs, which would need to be placed using a crane, until the pandemic limited the project to one shoelace web.
“Michael contacted me over a year ago about giving him a price to assemble his [Orlosky’s] art structure, but he still needed help from me to put all the pieces together with him. It was supposed to be four separate structures and just sit on the foundation,” Paul Pichetti said. “It changed because with COVID, the shipping got harder, the assembly got harder, and because since any one of these laces could be carried by two men, there was no need for a crane anymore.”
Orlosky said that he’s aiming to complete the sculpture by Friday. Mayor Jared Nicholson said that the project properly represents the community’s history and culture, and that he looks forward to its unveiling.
“Laces of Lynn is representative of our community-focused residents and the rich history of the city,” Nicholson said. “This art installation is unique with its approach and will display a bright and positive message in our arts and cultural district. I look forward to the unveiling of this project and appreciate the work from all involved.”
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
