What's happening in 2026?
CURRENT PROJECTS
GO FISH – a collaboration between ArtsArlington, the Mystic River Watershed Association, and 15 community organizations – will unfold in 2026. Artists and community folks of all ages and walks of life will create more than 2,000 unique hand-painted fish celebrating the annual journey of herring up the Mystic River. PATHWAYS: I will also work with ArtsArlington to commission outstanding Arlington artist and arts activist Adria Arch to create an installation using her distinctive vocabulary of playful vibrant cut out forms for the Minuteman Bikeway Pathways Public Art Program. PLANT STORIES, audio essays created in 2025 to explore the history of the American Revolution and the impact of colonialism through the lens of plants remains available for listening at www.PlantStories. us. ENTANGLED, a collaborative project with artist Michelle Lougee calling attention to the plague of single use plastic, will pop-up in various locations, including Arlington, Cambridge, and Cape Cod.
GO FISH!
GO FISH – a collaboration between ArtsArlington, the Mystic River Watershed Association, and 15 community organizations – will unfold in 2026. Artists and community folks of all ages and walks of life will create more than 2,000 unique hand-painted fish for installation on brick walls around town. GO FISH celebrates an environmental success story: the restoration of herring in the Mystic River. Once declared endangered due to over-fishing in the ocean, this crucial keystone species was preserved thanks to the combined efforts of government, nonprofit organizations, and volunteers. Every year the numbers of fish that make their annual journey from the Boston Harbor up the Mystic River to spawn increases. In addition to making this important environmental victory visible, the project celebrates the value of diversity and community, resilience and persistence, imagination and activism.
Plant Stories
In 2024-25, I invited Liz Shepherd and Suzanne Moseley to create banners to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in Arlington. The artists decided to focus on the plants used by English colonists who made a home in what was then called Menotomy. To accompany their images, I developed an audio "tour" with science communicator and plant biologist Molly Edwards. It consists of essays and interviews exploring the role plants played in colonial life and the impact of English settlers on the ecosystem. We interviewed Faries Gray, Sagamore of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag to include his perspective and wisdom; he also served as an informal project advisor. We interviewed other experts on 18th century apple orchards, farms, trees and foraging practices, and Molly shared her knowledge of the medicinal qualities of plants. As the tour evolved, many voices combined to offer a fascinating look at the way plants shaped life and history in the time of the American Revolution. Listen at: www.PlantStories.us
Entangled
A collaboration with artist Michelle Lougee, Entangled was launched at the 2023 HONK! Festival in Somerville. An activist participatory art project, our goal is to make a 100-foot long rope of single use plastic trash that can be flexibly reconfigured to complement a site or protest action. Bottle caps, containers, packaging and other post-consumer waste are strung on plastic rope -- most likely lost fishing gear -- salvaged from Cape Cod Bay by the Center for Coastal Studies ocean plastic clean-up program. Our goal is to make the devastating quantity of plastic waste visible and tangible, with each plastic item representing a ton of waste dumped in the ocean daily.
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More about Michelle Lougee
ONGOING: Remembrance of Climate Futures
with Tom Starr
I 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 public art project, Remembrance of Climate Futures. 12 High school interns created 23 aluminum markers that imagine future impacts of the climate crisis on the landscape and community where they live. These are installed on locations throughout Arlington, MA.
Based on science & policy research, consultation with community activists, and lively discussion, the interns envisioned events such as:
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Flooding of the Amelia Earhart Dam creating Arlington's first climate refugees.
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Construction of the first Support Center to help with the emotional and psychological impacts of climate change and the first Clean Air Shelter offering relief from air pollution.
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Planting of hundreds of trees along Mass Avenue; transformation of grass lawns into resilient native plant sanctuaries; town-wide composing; and transitions to renewable energy for transportation and buildings.
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The first Knotweed Cafe serving safely foraged invasive plants and the arrival of the formerly southern pine beetle in Menotomy Rocks Park.
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Free bus service and a comprehensive K-12 climate curriculum in the public schools.
Several of the interns have become passionate advocates for climate action. Watch their speeches at a December, 2022 celebration for the project here, together with a project overview by artist Tom Starr.
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Read more about CLIMATE FUTURES/ARLINGTON 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 the Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development.
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WE'RE ON TV!
Arlington Community Media's "Talk of the Town" covered Climate Futures in a comprehensive studio show with three interns, Cecily and Rachel Oliveri; Tom Starr is interviewed separate at home. Watch here:
Climate Futures/Talk of the Town
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Murals
The creation of new murals in Arlington remains an important goal for ArtsArlington. Outreach to local businesses and building owners continues as we seek sites to locate new artwork. PHOTO: Painted panel from the Drake Village mural created by David Fichter, residents of Drake Village, and Arlington Public School Students.