Re-Create Studios is organizing a new, community-oriented art installation, coming next Spring.
The Village Parklet Project “aims to engage the community on a large but personal level through self-guided art, reading, and historical experiences” by installing miniature “Town Centers” in public locations.
Each Village Parklet will include a mini gallery alongside a free little library and a miniature museum for displaying local history. These miniature museums would contain some written piece about local history alongside an artifact related to that piece. They may also contain an audio portion, with recordings of voices or parts of local history.
The project is based on Re-Create’s existing exhibit, “Free Little Art Galleries,” which travels around Lynnfield and is currently on display at Summer Street Elementary. The new Village Parklets will be set up as permanent installations in public places in town, with the included content being rotated on a three month basis.
Re-Create will be establishing a website that includes a call for art pieces and historical content to be included in the project, so anyone can submit work for consideration.
Art pieces “can either be small scale because obviously these are dollhouse size galleries, or it can be prints or replicas of work.” This means that even large-scale artists could shrink down their work to be included.
Historical works could be curated around local stories and artifacts submitted to Re-Create. The studio could then work with the Lynnfield Historical Commission and/or the library to build exhibits around submissions.
Re-Create and the Art Guild are working with the Town to have more art and exhibition programming space as well. They are hoping this would be a good home for Village Parklets. They are also working with MarketStreet, for either a temporary or ideally permanent installation to bring more community involvement to the space.
The Village Parklets are funded through a grant for $5,000 from the Essex County Community Foundation, the Creative County Initiative Partnership Grant, as well as a $500 grant from the Lynnfield Cultural Council. They are hoping to partner with the High School to provide volunteer opportunities for students to help with maintenance of the installations.
Heidi Reynolds, owner of Re-Create Studios, said to the Lynnfield Weekly that the community needs “something very uplifting and light, a gathering point where we can share share our voices” and that “a lot of people haven’t necessarily felt like they had a way to do that in the past.” Her goal for this project is to be “a playful yet educational way to bring people together.”
