Pathways: Art on the Minuteman Bikeway

Pathways: Art on the Minuteman Bikeway

PATHWAYS was launched in 2017 to bring art into one of Arlington’s busiest public spaces: a section of the Minuteman Bikeway that traverses and connects the town’s Cultural District. Installations were sited on a segment between Linwood Street and Swan Place, a half-mile stretch lined by tall canopy trees and featuring vistas of Spy Pond. Each year we commission artists to create site-specific work inspired by the natural and social qualities of the Minuteman, a well-traveled green space that welcomes thousands of people of all ages for biking, walking with family and friends, or solitary contemplation of nature. If you have an idea for a project on the Bikeway, please contact our curator and public art consultant, Cecily Miller.

On View

Persistence, Dots and Dashes, Current II and Current III are currently On View for Pathways

Persistence: A Community Response to Pervasive Plastic
Michelle Lougee & Arlington Craftivists

Sculptor and Crochet Artist Michelle Lougee and a group of community artists created 37 colorful sculptures crocheted from PLARN, a “yarn” made from plastic bags, to resemble micro-organisms found in water. The project’s goal is to raise awareness of the deadly impact of single-use plastic on the environment and human health.

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Dots and Dashes
Johnny Lapham

“If this were a kind of lollipop Morse code dotting and dashing its way in and out of your awareness each time you pass by, what song might they be singing just for you?” Audio Tour is here.

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ExtraOrdinary Birds
Resa Blatman

These collectible art postcards pay tribute to neighborhood birds with painted portraits by Resa Blatman and text by Ellen Reed. A combination of gorgeous images and pithy facts will get you started with birdwatching along the Bikeway and stewardship activities in your own back yard. Audio tour is available here.

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Colony II and Colony III
Christopher Frost

These two works expand on the success of Colony, a playful mash-up of architectural styles that was Christopher Frost’s first work for PATHWAYS.

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Past Projects

Walking Poetry and Colony I, 2020; Room to Grow, Fall 2019.   You can find more information about them here; Ripple, Current, and Flutter, 2018. Rhetoric of Opposites and City Fox, 2017.

Walking Poetry
Adria Arch and Jessie Brown

Artist Adria Arch and Poet Jessie Brown have installed three of their Walking Poems along the Minuteman Bikepath as part of this year’s Pathways exhibition. The project is designed to encourage passersby to slow down and take in the experience of poetry.

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Colony I
Christopher Frost

Sculptor Christopher Frost has created a playful architectural folly, a miniature village composed of imagined architectural elements perched on the trunk of a mature maple tree. Audio Tour is available here.

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Room to Grow
Freedom Baird

Artist Freedom Baird has created an intimate outdoor room furnished with a chair, bed, and bureau salvaged from the curb and interwoven with native plantings. It’s a place to consider how humans and nature interact. Audio Tour is available here.

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Ripple
Adria Arch & The Knitting Brigade

Ripple is a large-scale fiber piece transforming a group of trees with color, pattern and texture.

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Current
Frank Vasello

An environmental sculpture constructed of natural materials gathered on site arranged in a pattern that evokes a river flowing down a hillside towards Spy Pond.

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Flutter
Claudia Ravaschiere & Michael Moss

An installation of 65 translucent plexiglass butterflies calling attention to the amazing strength and resilience of these tiny creatures.

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Rhetoric of Opposites
Nilou Moochhala

A work consisting of 25 pairs of words stenciled on the pavement of the bikeway, exploring the way language can be used to polarize opinion and divide people.

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City Fox
Stewy

A stenciled fox and rabbit by British street artist who has catalogued urban wildlife surviving in the City of London.

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Bikeway Haiku
Arlington Public Art

Bikeway Haiku is an opportunity for the Haiku writers to share their experiences and insights with neighbors, just as we share the road.

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News and Press

What’s With The Art on Arlington’s Minuteman Bikeway? | Arlington Patch, October 25,2017

Where arts, culture take root and thrive | Boston Globe, September 29,2017

Arlington knitters create public art on the bikeway | Arlington Advocate, September 14,2017

Bikeway art cycles away from black/white thinking | Your Arlington, July 10,2017

Minuteman bikeway public artist wants to make you think | Arlington Advocate, July 10,2017

Minuteman bikeway to host art installations | Arlington Advocate, June 26,2017

Take some art in on your ride | Boston Globe, July 13,2017

Thanks to our supporters

PATHWAYS is supported by grants from the Arlington Cultural Council, a local agency, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the National Park Service. Additional support generously provided by donations from individual supporters of the arts and the Town of Arlington.

PATHWAYS is curated by APA’s Public Art Consultant Cecily Miller in collaboration with a committee of representatives from the Arlington Commission on Art and Culture: Adria Arch, Lorri Berenberg, Barbara Costa and Stephanie Marlin-Curiel. Charles Tracy, National Park Service and Ali Carter, Arlington Planning Department, serve as PATHWAYS advisors. For more information contact Cecily at cecily.apa@gmail.com.