Last updated on October 6, 2017
A series of semi-permanant mosaic murals being installed on the plaza at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Hyde Square will be unveiled in a public celebration on Oct. 11th.
Led by Jamaica Plain artists Richard Youngstrom, Fiona O’Connor and Andrea Tamkin, the Latin Quarter Mosaics Project is a New England Foundation for the Arts’ Creative City program. The project has been created in collaboration with Hyde Square Task Force, and included a series of mosaic workshops with community neighbors and youth.
“We hope that visitors connect to Hyde Square/Latin Quarter in Jamaica Plain as an active and energetic place, filled with people, color, music and food from Latin America and across the United States. We hope the mosaics add to the welcoming place the church plaza has been in the community for decades,” said O’Connor, via press release.
“We want folks to take pride in the depiction of their community as Boston’s Latin Quarter and the mosaic images showcase this vibrant, colorful, prosperous neighborhood,” said Youngstrom, via press release. “The church plaza is an open, accessible, visible area in the community, which has been the center for community activities, especially those of Hyde Square Task Force, our community partner who has been invaluable to helping develop and launch our project.”
“We had volunteered with Hyde Square Task force in 2016. It was a natural progression to develop this public art project with them, on their plaza, to benefit the community, and to work with its youth and wider community,” said Tamkin via press release.
The artists spoke glowingly about their fondness for working with the mosaic medium.
“Its beauty and tactile nature, and permanence. It is colorfast, weatherproof and solid. I also like the use of recycled and unconventional materials,” said Youngstrom.
“Working in mosaics is very meditative, it’s like solving a puzzle I love seeing how the pieces fit together, creating a surface reflecting light in a magical dance,” said Tamkin.
“Unlike some other arts, there is building, engineering, dimensionality to mosaics. I love transforming hard materials, even found objects, meant for other uses into art that is expressive,” said O’Connor.
The official unveiling celebration will take place Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 6 pm, on the Blessed Sacrament Church plaza, located at 361 Centre St., Jamaica Plain. The event is free and open to the public.
