The new piece was celebrated at the Jamaica Plain branch of the Boston Public Library and Boston Centers for Youth and Families Curtis Hall
Mayor Kim Janey and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Boston Art Commission, the Boston Public Library, and Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF), honored the installation of a new public art work on Nov. 4. The piece was set up at the Jamaica Plain Branch branch of the Boston Public Library and BCYF Curtis Hall. The City commissioned artist Matthew Hinçman to create the work, which is called Wythe & Web.
“This new addition to the Jamaica Plain Branch and BCYF Curtis Hall is a great way to honor the strong community ties that are present in this neighborhood,” said Mayor Janey. “I can’t wait to see people interact with the artwork, and use it as a way to engage in more conversations with each other.”
“I hope that it might be a bit of a destination,” said Hinçman. “I could never imagine the bench that I made at Jamaica Pond being all that comfortable, and yet, people will sit in it with their legs dangling over it and actually say ‘let’s meet at the bench’. I don’t think the lawn here, prior to the installation, held that kind of charm for folks, and I’m hopeful it might now. I hope this might be something to go check out, and a space to be in a way that it really wasn’t before.”
Shira Laucharoen is a reporter based in Boston. She currently serves as the assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In the past she has written for Sampan newspaper, The Somerville Times, Scout Magazine, Boston Magazine, and WBUR.