Dream, Hunt, Make

Photo courtesy of Tost Films via Mosaic Lowell

Artist: Fonki

Date Installed: Summer 2022

The “Dream, Hunt, Make” mural by Fonki fills the gaps between the tall windows on Middlesex Community College’s Cowan Center with color. Fonki is a Cambodian artist from Montreal whose experience with graffiti turned into a career in mural creations. Measuring 81 feet wide and 82 feet tall, the mural was completed in 2022 as part of Beyond Walls, ArtUp Lowell, and Project LEARN’s series of summer mural installations.

Location: Cowan Center, Middlesex Community College, 22 Kearney Square

MESA

Photo courtesy of Tost Films via Mosaic Lowell

Artist: Sophy Tuttle

Date Installed: 2022

Measuring at 120 feet wide and 40 feet tall, the “MESA” art mural covers the front wall of Mahoney Hall on UMass Lowell’s South Campus. The Boston-based artist, Sophy Tuttle, created this mural in alignment with the common theme of nature in her art pieces. In reference to the acronym for the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, “MESA” features several endangered species such as the showy lady’s slipper and blue-spotted salamander.

ArtUp Lowell, an artistic nonprofit, organized this art project in coordination with Beyond Walls from Lynn, Massachusetts.

Location: Mahoney Hall, 870 Broadway Street

Mill City Shapes

Photo courtesy of Mosaic Lowell

Artist: Kit Collins

Date Installed: 2020

Throughout the fall of 2019 and completed in 2020, artist Kit Collins brought color to an 8’x20’ storage container in Kerouac Park with her mural, “Mill City Shapes.” The City of Lowell commissioned Kit Collins to create the acrylic mural, which covers the storage container with familiar features such as the silhouette of the Merrimack River, thread spindles, and loom technology. These industrial and environmental snapshots serve as an ode to Lowell’s history of labor and textile production in the mills.

Location: 75 Bridge Street

Skyline

Photo Courtesy of Mosaic Lowell

Artist: Andrew Szava-Kovats

Date Installed: October 2019

“Skyline” by artist Andrew Szava-Kovats was installed in front of the Lowell Police Department along Arcand Drive in October 2019. The series of three panels abstractly depict Lowell’s brick buildings in contrast to the colorful sky.

This project was initiated and coordinated by the Cultural Affairs and Special Events Department (CASE) with the Cultural Organizations of Lowell’s Creative Committee providing review and recommendations of submissions.

Location: 50 Arcand Drive

Lowell in Color

Photo courtesy of Mosaic Lowell

Artist: Frank Casazza

Date Installed: October 2019

“Lowell in Color” is a bright and colorful collage of City landmarks that was installed at the Joseph M. Downes Parking Garage on John Street in October 2019. Between the inclusion of the Haffner’s sign and the Lowell Sun building, artist Frank Casazza’s piece represents Lowell’s famous icons.

The piece was initiated and coordinated by the Cultural Affairs and Special Events Department (CASE) with the Cultural Organizations of Lowell’s Creative Committee providing review and recommendations of submissions. “Lowell in Color” was supported by Lowell’s Parking Department.

Location: 75 John Street

Hydro

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Artist: Nancy Selvage

This Cultural Organization of Lowell (COOL) project, initiated in 2011 and completed in 2019, is Lowell’s latest public art piece and is located in the Hamilton Canal Innovation District’s Utopian Park. The sculpture, designed by artist Nancy Selvage, “creates a playful interactive experience for children to explore the journey of water flowing and swirling through a ‘turbine’ gateway that confidently strides forward to greet and embrace the public.”

Location: Hamilton Canal District

Decatur Way Path

Artists: Individuals who created works for Decatur Way include students from 26 local schools, UMass Lowell Art Prof. Stephen Mishol, poet Paul Marion, muralists Donald Maker and Kurt Ledoux of Lowell, and artist Liz LaManche of Boston (2016).  

“Decatur Way…Water, Art and You” is an outdoor walkway and art space in Lowell’s Acre neighborhood.  The area features local artist’s murals, poetry installations and other artwork including unique drawings in pigment that is only visible when the pavement is wet.

Location:  220 Salem St., across the street from University Crossing building B

George L. Duncan Fountains

Designer: Alison Duncan - PLLC (2012)

The George L. Duncan fountain is composed of 3 custom-designed weathering steel Stacks which represent Lowell’s iconic smokestacks constructed during its industrial era.  Each of the Stacks is designed with slight modifications to allow water to either pour, spill or cascade.  This fountain structure is intended to celebrate the many ways in which water moves throughout and around the city’s hydraulic systems such as canals, spillways, and waterfalls.

Location: Between Enterprise Bank and Shattuck Street

The Worker

Artist: Elliot and Ivan Schwartz (1985)

The Worker is a sculpture of an Irish canal worker widening the canal ways of Lowell.  The historical context behind this work is to portray the significance of immigrant groups to the development of Lowell and the modern world today.

Location: Mack Plaza, Lowell Heritage State Park on the corner of Market and Shattuck Streets

Pawtucket Prism

Artist: Michio Ihara (1989)

This twenty-foot-high kinetic sculpture symbolizes the role that water power played in the development of Lowell. The artist originally designed this piece so that the water, flowing from metal rods, would spin the copper-colored steel cubes in all directions. Unfortunately the water-powered system was too difficult to maintain and corroded the steel cubes. This sculpture was restored by the Greater Lowell Community Foundation and UMass Lowell.
The metal cubes are now new and balanced in order to be moved by the wind.

 

Location: Lowell Sheraton Hotel Lowell Locks, junction of the Pawtucket Canal & Concord River 

The Lowell Sculptures: One, Two and Three

Artist: Robert Cummings (1990)

These three pieces of art are derived from Lowell’s industrial symbols and are intended to be objects for seating and climbing.  Sculpture one is a six-ton silhouette of Francis Cabot Lowell who was the early textile manufacturer and after whom the city is named.  Sculpture two is a tipped mammoth thread spool mounted on a granite base.  Sculpture three is a saw-toothed horizontal piece.

Location: Boarding House Park, corner of French and John Streets

Agapetime

Artist: Dimitri Hadzi (1990)

This black patina bronze sculpture was commissioned by former U.S. Senator Paul E. Tsongas and Nicola Sauvage Tsongas in memory of their families.  The title means “love and honor” in Greek, and the piece symbolizes a universal tribute to the family and those Lowell families of immigrant heritage.

Location: Lower Locks, at the junction of the Pawtucket and Eastern Canals

Homage to Women

Artist: Mico Kaufman (1989)

This sculpture of five intertwined figures is a tribute to Lowell’s 19th century mill girls, celebrating the contributions made by women throughout time. This statue represents the struggles and aspirations of working women everywhere and is intended to represent women of different races.

Location: Market Mills Park, Market and Palmer Streets

Stele for the Merrimack

Artist: Peter Gourfain (1996)

Stele is a standing stone or slab with textured or inscribed surfaces which serves as a monument. This sculpture commemorates the wide variety of life generated by the Merrimack River. The four sides of the work include images of flora and fauna supported by the river, along with those of the people who have depended on the river throughout history.

Location: Father Morrisette Boulevard and Suffolk Street behind the Jeanne d’Arc Credit Union office building

"A Mothers Hand" Genocide Memorial

Artist: Daniel Varoujan Hejinian (2014)

This genocide memorial is to acknowledge the killing of 1.5 million people from 1915 to 1923 and is the first Armenian Genocide monument unveiled on the site of a government building in the U.S.  The Lowell monument is made of bronze and granite and there are two three-dimensional hands at the top of the piece of art showing a mother's hands crocheting.  At the bottom of the structure is inscribed the words "In Memory" both in English and Armenian.

Location: 375 Merrimack Street (outside City Hall)

Industry, Not Servitude

Artist: Ellen Rothenberg (1997)

Artist Ellen Rothenberg created the sculpture to recognize the women workers in nineteenth century Lowell who struggled together to improve conditions in the factories and demanded fair treatment from their employers.  “Industry Not Servitude" has five sculptural elements distributed along the length of Lucy Larcom Park.

Location: Lucy Larcom Park along the Merrimack Canal