Dear Friend,
Newton Community Pride, in partnership with the City of Newton, is currently accepting design submissions for Sit & Let Your Spirit Soar, a public art initiative designed to create community, encourage conversation, and inspire feelings of connection.
Sit & Let Your Spirit Soar will involve the temporary outdoor installation of 19 church pews donated by Newtonville’s Boston Chinese Evangelical Church, which is in the process of renovating its sanctuary. A jury will select local and regional artists to transform the pews into three-dimensional functional art.
The decorated pews will be strategically located in outdoor public gathering places throughout Newton from June through October 2022. Through signage, passersby will be invited to sit on the pews and encouraged to use them for outdoor meetings, intimate conversation, or simply quiet contemplation.
Artists are invited to submit applications to participate in this juried initiative no later than April 22, 2022, and winners will be selected by May 15, 2022.
While there is no restriction on the designs that may be submitted, artists are asked to create designs that respond to this prompt: “______________ make/s my spirit soar.”
Selected artists will each be assigned a single pew (about 8’ long) to decorate on location over the course of one weekend, June 4-5 (or rain date). Selected artists will each be paid commissions of $500.
“We are delighted to once again bring a citywide public art installation to several of our village centers," stated Gloria Gavris, Board Chair of Newton Community Pride. "Our green spaces and public places will once again come alive with color and we invite residents to gather and make connections through conversation.”
“Newton Community Pride has hit another home run with yet another creative public art project designed to energize and enliven our village centers,” said Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Chamber. “Our retailers, restaurants and other businesses are so grateful to NCP and our local artists for this effort and all the support they’ve provided to enliven our village centers.”
Sit & Let Your Spirit Soar is presented by The Village Bank and supported in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council, a local council supported by the Mass Cultural Council and the City of Newton.
