Boston is a city with no shortage of great art. From the masterpieces of the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the largest art museums in the country, to the music of the renown Boston Symphony Orchestra, to the fluid and graceful performances of the Boston Ballet, Boston’s artistic achievements are varied and far reaching. Boston is a city with a soul for art, dedicated to stimulating the intellectual and cultural needs of its inhabitants. It should be no surprise then that UMass Boston is a campus devoted to nurturing the artistic gifts of students, faculty and visitors alike.
The university stokes the embers of dormant artistic brilliance in two key ways. The first is by providing inspiration for those on campus to be surrounded by art in all its forms. The University’s Arts on the Point program is a sprawling sculpture park with work spread across the 200 acres of Columbia Point. The university also provides an outlet for those who have allowed the seeds of inspiration to grow into a work of art. The campus also has its very own art gallery. The Harbor Art Gallery is located on the first floor of McCormack Hall and holds various exhibitions throughout the year, including student work.
The Arts on the Point collection contains work from artists from all over the globe. Perhaps the most prominent piece of art is the huge steel “monster” that stands on the corner field at the front of campus. Weighing 30,000 pounds and standing 30 feet in the air, “Huru” a sculpture by artist Mark di Suvero, proves an imposing guardian. Yet in spite of the obvious rigidity of the sculpture, the top portion of “Huru” is actually designed to rotate and bob up and down in the wind, defying its considerable mass. A formidable challenger to “Huru” is pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s “Brushstroke Group.” Viewed from campus, the sculpture appears as though the artist had joined the sky and harbor with a musical wave of a paintbrush. “Brushstroke Group” consists of five fluid forms that twist and bend elegantly, resembling the dripping brush strokes that Lichtenstein would use to create his masterpieces.
In addition to showcasing the art of internationally recognized artists the campus also offers the up-and-coming a chance to shine. The Harbor Art Gallery showcases the work of lesser-known artists with particular attention to local and student artists. In fact, the first show of this very semester was exclusively student art. Students interested in having their work exhibited at the gallery can submit a proposal to Gallery Director, Andrea Souza. The proposal must include a current resume, an artist’s statement, and slides of jpgs of the artist’s work and may include any materials from past shows.
UMass Boston is a campus overflowing with art, like the creative coffins spread throughout the various buildings or the art that is shamefully hidden behind the Quinn administration building, far off the beaten path and difficult to find for inspiration deprived potential artists. The Harbor Art Gallery meanwhile, provides these folks with a venue for their labors once that spark of inspiration takes hold.
Interested artists should submit proposals to: Harbor GalleryUniversity of Massachusetts BostonFirst Floor McCormack Hall100 Morrissey BoulevardBoston, MA 02125Attn: Andrea Souza