Art on Campus

Image caption: Percy Fortini-Wright, Stars are Bright, spray paint, 2021.

Emerson Contemporary serves as a facilitator and partner for art projects on Emerson’s campus. In collaboration with the Public Art Think Tank we help guide department and individual projects and assist with their manifestation. Recent projects include a mural by Percy Fortini Wright in the Little Building (Summer 2021) and the Piano Row Lounge mural by Julia Cseko (Summer of 2020).

Image Caption: Julia Cseko, A Coney Island of the Mind, (text by John Lewis), Acrylic Paint, Piano Row, Quiet Lounge.

This mural was commissioned by Emerson College as a response to anti-semitic and white supremacist graffiti found on the Piano Row Campus. The Emerson administration began a conversation with the student body to understand how they wanted to approach the incident. The students requested that a piece of art be created in response. Leonie Bradbury, the Henry and Lois Foster Chair of Contemporary Art Theory and Practice, Distinguished Curator-in-Residence at Emerson College stepped in to create a student advisory board. The text selection was of great importance – and everyone involved expressed the desire for an uplifting message, something that would propose and inspire, propel us to navigate the anxiety caused by the unstable political scenario and social distancing practices with strength and clarity.

Watch a time-lapse process video of the Cseko’s mural below.