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Date: 7/27/2021
PELHAM – Local artist Roberley Bell has been selected for an art installation at Springfield’s Pynchon Park for the SPark! Igniting Our Community project.
This is a two-year public art project to transform the recently reopened Pynchon Plaza into a vibrant public space with innovative multi-media art installations created by local and national artists. The SPark! Art Committee had put out a call to all artists with special consideration was given to installations that include Springfield artists, artists of color, LGBTQA+, and female artists.
Bell’s project was selected as one of eight pieces funded by a combination of public and private monies including a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Program Grant and City of Springfield Community Development Block Grant.
“I do a lot of public art projects. So it just was obvious to me that I should apply for it,” said Bell. One of eight artists selected for this project, Bell’s installation will be a bench at the base of the stairs. “It’s an organic curvilinear form. It was inspired, you know, by a Dr. Suess type of non-representational animated structures,” she explained.
However, Bell’s installation will be more than just a seating area, but rather a social structure. “It's designed so that everyone’s not facing away from each other and looking forward at usually the road, but that they’re looking at each other,” Bell said. “That’s why my project is this kind of curvilinear structure that has openings in it. So that there are lots of options of how you might sit in it, but it's really about how you might sit in on this structure and engage with other people.”
This isn’t the first time one of Bell’s installations has been a curvilinear structure. “I did [benches] for a park in Cleveland that I also refer to as social structures, but for those, I used the contour of the topographic maps of Lake Erie as kind of the inspiration for the outlines,” she said.
Bell’s installation is set to debut in October and should take her a couple of months to complete, but she’s not been able to work on it due to funding.
“One of the biggest problems with public art is you get awarded something and then it’s several months, if not six months time before you get money,” she began explaining. “So, it’s hard to go and buy supplies and start doing things, especially when you need outside fabricators without some money in hand. That’s really the part that slows things down.”
Still, Bell said she is excited for the opportunity along with the public’s reaction. “Something that I always look forward to, especially when you have something that’s not just an object to be looked at and enjoyed, but an object that is very much about physical participation, right. Sitting on it, engaging with it in that sense.”
Other artists included in Pynchon Park are: Lauren Celini of Springfield, Utility Art; Michelle Falcón Fontánez and Alvilda Sophia Anaya-Alegría of Boston, Mosaic Art; RT Woods of Springfield, Fencing Art; Beth Crawford of Haydenville, 3D Sculptural Art; Jeffrey Lara of Springfield, 3D Sculptural Art; Make-It Springfield, Library Box; and Outdoor Musical Instruments of the United Kingdom, Sound Sculpture, which is to be embellished by a local artist.
“The SPark! project is a remarkable opportunity to create a museum without walls that builds on the hopes and vision of our community in the heart of downtown Springfield,” said Kay Simpson, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums.
“Pynchon Park will become more than just an easy way to walk from downtown to the Springfield Museums, the Central Library, and the Armory. It will become a community space for solace, conversation, programming, and play surrounded by intriguing art,” said Simpson. “We are thrilled to co-create an Art Park that showcases the talents of artists from Springfield and beyond.”