Local Talent on Display in ‘Art Outside’

September 18, 2024
• Whether getting coffee at French Press, dropping off a letter in the Heights or heading to Mills Field for a game, passersby will be greeted — perhaps unexpectedly — by local works of art.

Across eight spots in town, the Needham Art Association is displaying prints of 32 artworks, all created by Needhamites or residents of surrounding communities. The public art project, dubbed Art Outside, will run through June and marks the NAA’s 75th anniversary.

Inspired by similar outdoor galleries — such as Newton’s FenceART — Art Outside aims to beautify Needham by placing the vinyl art banners on eyesore fences, project lead Hilary Bruel said. The banners, which will rotate locations every two months, have already garnered positive responses, Bruel said.

“It’s a benefit for the town because we’re bringing art into these public spaces and these underutilized spaces,” Bruel said. “It’s also a benefit to our artists, because it means that people who wouldn’t normally see their art are getting to see their art, so it’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

Needham mixed-media artist Judi Stein’s work, “Southwest Sunset,” is currently featured on Pickering Street near Greene’s Field. Stein used oil and cold wax to achieve the textures and movement in the piece, features she integrates in many of her paintings.

Her sunset, however, may not represent her body of work. Stein also creates collages — some inspired by her family history — as well as prints using Gelli plates, which are flexible surfaces on which artists can layer and press paint and materials onto separate canvases.

Stein, who took up painting about a decade ago, said she is continuously inspired by nature and will often use real flowers and branches from her backyard as tools and stamps in her art.

“I love walking around the reservoir, that’s one of my favorite places just to relax, sit by the water,” Stein said. “I take a lot of pictures there, and sometimes I’ll use the photos just as inspiration, and sometimes I’ve embedded photos too.”

“Southwest Sunset” sits alongside two landscape-style works by artists Lin Bain and Keith McClelland, as well as a more abstract one by Gail Hansen.

Arranging each grouping was similar to creating an exhibit, Bruel said, as she looked for variety and some coordination between the colors displayed. Bruel’s own work, titled “Coastline,”is hanging across from French Press on Chapel Street.

Artist and NAA member Patricia Varon, who also lives in Needham, mainly paints fine art, working with watercolors and oils. When inspired by something “interesting, different or colorful,” Varon puts it to canvas, often in her studio in Winford, Rhode Island.

Varon’s “Boat Launch Jetty” currently appears outside Pollard Middle School. Working with watercolors can be difficult, Varon said, as canvases dry quickly and mistakes aren’t erasable. When painting en plein air, or outside, Varon also contends with wind, physical obstacles to her view and bugs, who seem to like the wet watercolor.

Regardless, Varon’s piece — completed about two months ago — will greet students for the next few weeks.

“I was very pleased I got that spot,” Varon said of the display. “I hope I inspire children. We’ll see how it goes.”

The project received grant funding through the Needham Council for Arts and Culture, which, in total, gave $17,865 to 29 local initiatives. The majority of that funding comes from the Mass Culture Council.

Passing by art simply “makes people smile and makes them happy,” NCAC Co-Chair Joni Schockett said. Similar to the pansy mural, painted electrical boxes, the Chestnut Street tile project and other displays, Needham is home to outdoor art in surprising-yet-serendipitous places, she said.

The council is currently working on installing a mural in the passageway by Town Hall, and their next grant cycle begins later this fall, Schockett added.

Besides sparking joy and creativity, the Art Outside also supports Needham’s desire and mission to increase visible art, Bruel said.

“It dovetails with the town’s goal of encouraging more public art projects and bringing more art into the community, which is, I think, part of the reason why they were so excited about it as well.”

The Art Outside project “brightens the day of people who pass by it,” Schockett said.

“We’ve been happy to fund them because we love what they do,” Schockett said. “They bring art outside, which is phenomenal, and people notice it when they’re out and about, and it’s fabulous.”