Arlington250:
Commemorating the American Revolution in Arlington
in 2024-25, I worked with ArtsArlington to develop 4 public art installations commemorating the Town's often overlooked participation in the battles of April 19, 1775 that launched the Revolution in Menotomy -- as Arlington was called at the time -- Lexington and Concord. These consisted of:
Then & Now: An Arlington Timeline: an ambitious project by Nilou Moochhala pairing stories of key events in Arlington's past with complementary contemporary moments to reveal the town's character as well as history.
People, Plants & Revolution, a series of vibrant lightpole banners designed by Liz Shepherd and Suzanne Moseley
Plant Stories, an audio tour created with biologist and science communicator Molly Edwards to accompany the banners.
Unseen/Unforgotten: A Remembrance of Menotomy's Every Day Defenders, a sculptural installation by Christopher Frost.
Pictured right: cards and sidewalk graphics from Nilou Moochhala's Arlington Timeline Project.
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2023-2024: MURALS
I worked with ArtsArlington to create a Mural Plan and Tool Kit with consultant Amanda Hall and commission four landmark murals on commercial buildings in Arlington Heights and Arlington Center. Muralists were selected through a competitive Call for Artists. A jury selected a pool of finalists; I then worked with these artists and building owners and tenants to identify the right artist to complement their aesthetic and identity. The completed murals are:
Transformation Portal by Lena McCarthy. Hosted by Helena's
Memorial to M.K. – Arlington Eagle by Sophy Tuttle. Hosted by American Alarm & Communications.
Kickstand Shuffle by Kenji Nakayama. Hosted by Kickstand Cafe.
You Are Loved by Alex Cook. Hosted by Roasted Granola Cafe and Szechuan's Dumpling.
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Pictured right; Lena McCarthy's Transformation Portal.
2024: DRAKE VILLAGE MOSAIC
The Arlington Housing Authority received funding to develop public art while improving their campus grounds. Working with landscape architects we identified a new back patio as a site for a mural. I invited David Fichter to propose a project and he designed a series of painted and mosaic panels that would be created with residents. I recruited six Arlington High School students to work alongside elderly residents during intergenerational workshops. The theme of the panels was wetland plants, insects and animals -- a celebration of the natural spaces adjacent to the housing development.
Blue Printing: Exploring Cyanotype as Public Art
in 2023 Michelle Lougee and I invited artists Liz Shepherd and Suzanne Moseley to serve as Artists-in-Residence at Magazine Beach in collaboration with Mass Audubon's urban Nature Center in Cambridge on the banks of the Charles River. Shepherd and Moseley created a pop-up tent which could be used to landmark the nature center and promote a series of public workshops. The tent uses photographic and photogram techniques and cyanotype process to celebrate the plants and animals of the Charles River Watershed. In 2024 Cecily brought the artists and the tent to Wellfleet Public Library for a cyanotype workshop in conjunction with her own exhibition of cyanotype photographs of Marcel Breuer's historic mid-century modern Wellfleet summer home.
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More info about Liz Shepherd
More info about Suzanne Moseley
An installation of vibrant fabric panels -- inspired by prayer flags -- printed with meditative drawings created by artist and visual storyteller Nilou Moochhala while ACAC Artist in Residence (Spring, 2021). Half of the drawings were created in response to interviews with 50 diverse community residents; these bear "touchstone" words that captured a central theme or experience in the pandemic stories shared with Nilou, who chose a site in the woods to offer a place for healng & reflection.
This youth-led version of Tom Starr's regional public art project calls attention to the impact of climate change on Arlington by imagining critical moments in our future and "commemorating" them with markers modelled on those found marking historic sites along an interpretive trail.
During the pandemic, the Department of Planning & Community Development set up public parklets to support local restaurants and cafes with outdoor dining space. Three were transformed. Former Boston artist -- now living in California -- Cheryl Sorg's op art eyes are shown here, meticulously constructed from brilliant colored tape. Four other projects were made using repurposed scrap vinyl by artists, middle school students, and the members of a local Girl Scout troop.
Two shots from painting day for Haiku in the Heights, a community poetry project. Everyone in Arlington was invited to write haiku inspired by the neighborhood of Arlington Heights. A jury picked over 35, and these were handpainted by a terrific group of volunteer artists with encouragement and assistance from renowned sign painter, artist Kenji Nakayama.
2021-2-22 PROJECTS
clients: Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture and Lexington Council for the Arts
Cecily Miller developed several new initiatives described below during her consulting work with the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture (ArtsArlington) and community partners;. In 2022 she was asked to bring one of them -- Storefront Haiku -- to the Town of Lexington.
REFLECTING ON OUR PANDEMIC FUTURE
Cecily invited Nilou Moochhala to develop her personal meditative drawing practice – started during the COVID-19 Pandemic – into a public art project. Working in an Artist-in-Residence position, Nilou developed an installation in Menotomy Rocks Park based on her drawings and on new drawings created in response to 50 interviews with diverse community members. The project was funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and individual donations.
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THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE WITH KARI PERCIVAL
Cecily invited artist and illustrator Kari Percival to serve as 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence for the Town of Arlington. Kari developed "No Place Like Home", a poster campaign supporting local organizations and volunteer groups with environmental missions.
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CLIMATE FUTURES ARLINGTON
Cecily worked with colleague Rachel Oliveri, Coordinator of the Arlington Public Schools Sustainability Initiatives, to develop a youth-led version of Northeastern Professor Tom Starr's regional project, Remembrance of Climate Futures. 12 High school interns developed markers that imagine future events in the climate crisis. The interns created a temporary wheatpaste version o the markers for the Fox Library in October. Aluminum markers will be installed in the spring of 2022. Read more about this project on the awesome project website built by the interns. Funded by a grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and organized by ArtsArlington in collaboration with the Arlington Public Schools and Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development.
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HAPPY PARKLETS - summer 2021
As part of a "Spruce Up Arlington: Get Your Sparkle On" campaign Cecily enlisted artists in improving orange plastic barriers with scrap vinyl and other materials. PHOTO: installation by California artist Cheryl Sorg.
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STOREFRONT HAIKU - summer 2021
Storefront businesses in Arlington Heights were filled with haiku written by people ranging in age from 6 to more than 90 years old. Some were about nature, some focused on friends or family, and many featured food! The poems -- selected by jury -- were handpainted by artistic volunteers; renowned sign painter and artist Kenji Nakayama gave a lettering workshop to get everyone started, and helped everyone through two weekends of painting. The project brought hope, humor, and vibrancy to a small business neighborhood hit hard by COVID.
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LEXINGTON HAIKU - summer 2022
Working with the Lexington Council for the Arts and organizing partner Laurie Bogdan, Cecily recreated her storefront poetry project in Lexington Center. Once again artist and sign painter Kenji Nakayama worked with community artists and volunteers to paint haiku celebrating this vibrant local business center. We organized a community wide haiku contest, held several workshops taught by Brad Bennett and Jessie Brown; a professional jury of three poets selected which poems to feature. Partners included Carey Memorial Library and the Lexington Historic Society, which hosted a festive reading open to all participating haiku poets!
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WE'RE ON TV!
Arlington Community Media's "Talk of the Town" has covered 2021 projects in two comprehensive studio shows. Watch them here:
