Public art project shines light on local artists and community values

By Sofia Mercier

Student Writer

 

 

 

From right, Rising 7th grader Katherine Amankrah stands next to her fairytale-themed painting Credit: Medway Cultural Arts Council ; ”Sun Bun” by Crystal Buckley honors Paul McInnis in the Rabbit Hill Historic District. Credit: Medway Cultural Arts Council ; Aoife poses next to their finished piece. Credit: Aoife Bergeron 

 The Medway Cultural Council has created a new public art program to brighten up the streets of Medway. The program was designed to uplift Medway artists to paint something that fits Medway’s values. A contest was held to decide who would paint the six boxes around town. Artwork proposals were sent to the MCC and then blindly voted on. 

Artist Aoife Bergeron had the opportunity to paint their design this summer. Bergeron graduated from Medway High School in 2021 and is now a rising junior at Montserrat College of Art. They have been drawing and painting since preschool, but only began taking themselves seriously in 2015 when they were in the 6th grade. As they grew up, they explored different mediums and built their skill. One of their recent favorite paintings is “of a Disney channel TV show set…I got to have fun with it and use fluorescent paint and glitter to make it a correct and convincing image.” 

Bergeron’s piece is located at the Main Street entrance to the Medway Commons shopping plaza. The goal of the piece was to add a pop of color to a formerly dull box, to make someone smile while stopped at the light. The landscape is a rainbow gradient that uses flat colors and sharp lines to highlight the different shades, and features people engaging in various outdoor activities such as biking, roller blading, and kayaking, to name a few. On the east side of the box is an “Entering Medway” sign, which cars coming into town from Millis can see.

Bergeron said, “I know everyone in Medway loves Choate Park, so I featured different outdoor activities that people partake in at Choate and around town.” Unfortunately, the electric box was too small for their imagination. “I would have totally put the playground and baseball and many more activities if I had more room!” 

After being selected to paint a box, Bergeron got to work. The design, originally done on an Adobe computer program, had to be revised as they continued to paint. They made their artistic decisions based on where each side of the box faced and what sides of the road would view the work. 

Upon completion, Bergeron reflected on their work. “My piece shows how everyone in Medway exists alongside each other and can enjoy our public spaces together.” 

Other artists chosen for the program include Crystal Buckley, Katherine Amankra, and Yihong Zhou, who were also able to bring brightness to Medway, highlighting its many talents and building a stronger community