Exploring Home at Harvard Subject of Public Art Project

In the space that is Harvard Square, is "home" a first-year's room in the Yard? A top-floor office overlooking Mass. Ave.? A chair in front of a chess board? A perch in the pit next to a street performer? Or maybe just a familiar place on the way to elsewhere? As the site of both incessant public interaction and secluded private space, Harvard Square is the focus of "Nest," a temporary public artwork created by the Reclamation Artists in collaboration with Harvard students. In developing the piece, the artists and students have explored how we shape and inhabit the urban landscape, what connects us to our environment and its other occupants, and how we create a "home" both personally and communally. Sponsored by the Office for the Arts, "Nest" will be on view October 19-28 in the Holyoke Center plaza next to the Au Bon Pain restaurant.

"Nest" is the latest in a series of collaborative public artworks created by the Reclamation Artists. In the past decade this group of Boston-area artists has created major installations in Government Center Plaza, Fort Point Channel, the East Boston waterfront, and other sites. For "Reclaiming Draw 7," a recent project sponsored by the Somerville Arts Council, 20 members of the group worked individually and together to create a series of sculptural installations along a stretch of Mystic River shoreline near the Assembly Square Mall in Somerville. All of the group's projects advance its commitment to creating "alternative visions for the use of land and public space."

The sculptural component of "Nest" is inspired by the rainforest canopy high above the forest floor-a world of organic connections that extends for miles. A cascade of ropes attached to the facade of Holyoke Center will form horizontal "ladders," with nets of jute hung between the ladder rungs. Embedded in the netting, objects created from lightweight materials, such as Styrofoam or nylon, will represent associations with "home." Throughout September and early October, artists and students will work on the construction of the sculptural piece and also plan a performance component in studio space provided at Adams House. On Thursday, October 25, at 7 pm, Reclamation Artists members and several students will participate in a roundtable discussion moderated by Ricardo Barretto, director of the UrbanArts Institute, a public art research and advocacy organization located at the Massachusetts College of Art. This event is sponsored by Learning From Performers, a program of the Office for the Arts.

Students interested in working on "Nest" may contact Teil Silverstein (teils@mindspring.com) or Cathy McCormick (cmccorm@fas.harvard.edu) at the Office for the Arts, 617.495.8676.