Welcome to the Fitchburg Contemporary Art App, presented by the Fitchburg Art Museum! This tour will take an in-depth look at a range of different artworks that are found throughout the city of Fitchburg. These visual artworks beautify their specific locations and collectively the city as a whole, enriching the city’s culture and the lives of its residents. Beginning our tour is the giant, figurative steel sculpture Thurston by artist Douglas Kornfeld. The product of teamwork, ingenuity, and innovative design, Thurston rapidly became an icon for the unity and collaborative can-do spirit in the city of Fitchburg. Read on and follow the tour to discover more about Fitchburg’s diverse collection of public art and the artists who created them.
Here you can see the Sentinel & Enterprise building where each installation was printed. Although it is not on view, you can see more at the Fitchburg Art Museum's Alphabet Project website page, linked in the sources at the bottom of this entry. The Alphabet Project is a series of innovative front-page design installations in the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise that ran from July 13th - August 11th, 2015. Over the course of these 26 days, a new alphabet letter with its own original typography would take over the cover of the Sentinel & Enterprise accompanied by stories, poems, and essays about life in Fitchburg.
The Fitchburg Youth Library Mural uses a progressive and highly inclusive adaptation of Greek mythology to capture Fitchburg’s remarkable diversity. Contrary to what well-known Greek Gods are normally depicted as, Guthrie and Cregg incorporated various skin tones to reflect on today's society. Continue reading to learn more about Guthrie and Cregg’s artistic process behind their mural.
The following mural is That Was Fun, Let’s Do More, created by muralist Caleb Neelon. The colorful and joyful spray painted mural was completed in the summer of 2014. A collaborative production, That Was Fun, Let’s Do More is a product of the community working together to accomplish a common goal.
The Immigrant was created by stone sculptor Nora Valdez. The limestone sculpture, unveiled on September 7th, 2013, is a model that symbolizes the hard work and effort that immigrants go through to reach a new life.
AS OF 2023, this temporary artwork has been taken down, as part of the building's renovation. This next artwork on the tour is Jon Allen’s acrylic paint mural titled Welcome to Fitchburg. The postcard like mural immediately captures the viewer’s attention and brightens up its surroundings with its bold reds and yellows, while the lettering showcases captivating aspects and imagery from Fitchburg’s past and present.
Activate Mill Street is a recently rejuvenated alley in downtown Fitchburg. It was revamped in the summer of 2019. This collection of public art works, comprised of many different mediums by multiple artists, is designed to inspire community and bring life back to this popular alleyway, a home to events of all kinds for the Fitchburg community.
The Nashua River Mural is a massive cerulean painting by Jon Allen. This 21-foot tall mural was completed in September 2014, located directly by the Nashua River itself. It was made as an homage to the history of the Nashua River, and Marion Stoddart’s major role in rallying the community to restore the river’s purity.
Gillian Christy’s Pathways serves as a welcoming gateway into Fitchburg. Pathway's intention was to highlights aspects of this community's past, revealing its rich history to all visitors of downtown Fitchburg. Read on to learn more about Pathways and how it properly represents the transformation of Fitchburg across the 20th century.
The Iver Johnson Mural was designed by Jon Allen, who used dynamic graphic visuals to make it ‘pop.’ The 15-foot tall mural was completed in autumn 2018, and is located at 35 Main Street. The unique color scheme and incorporation of Johnson’s portrait alongside imagery of his past makes this mural awe-inspiring.
On our final stop of this digital tour, we have Flights of Imagination: Juliet, Kate, Ophelia by KK Kozik, a mural in the Fitchburg State University Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library created in 2018. The mural depicts 650 scattered books that spiral up the staircase walls with a color scheme and name relating to Shakespeare’s famous plays.
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A walking tour throughout the city of Fitchburg that takes users on a journey into the culture and community of Fitchburg through its public art. Presented by students of Fitchburg State University’s Communications and Media Department and Fitchburg Art Museum.
