This summer's public art project was made possible by a generous Creative County Initiative grant from Essex County Community Foundation and support from the Haverhill Bank.
Drawing From Our Past: A Tri-Town Tape Art Festival
From July 12th - August 3rd, 2019, we celebrated the history of the tri-town Pentucket Region by creating a collaborative life-sized mural of characters from our collective past using only colored tape (Yes, tape!).
Internationally acclaimed Tape Art of Rhode Island visited our communities this summer to lead this extraordinary public art project. Below is an overview of this incredible community arts project:
Part I -- July 12 - 20
The Festival opened with Tape Art artists spontaneously creating mini murals on public spaces in the three Pentucket Towns. Meanwhile, a Tape Art History expert worked with our local historical societies and libraries to research key characters from our community’s past and recorded information about each individual on index cards.
"The Pines"
Langley-Adams Library
Groveland, MA
July 13th, 2019
"The Flood"
Kenoza Vending
Merrimac, MA
July 15th, 2019
"Comb Dreams"
West Newbury Food Mart
West Newbury, MA
July 17th, 2019
Part II -- July 21 - 26
Tape Art and a team of local artists created over a hundred life-sized human silhouettes using only colored tape (Yes, Tape!) and the back exterior walls of the Pentucket Middle School as a canvas.
Part III -- July 27 1-4 p.m.
Pageant Picnic Day: This was the BIG event! The tri-town community was invited for a day of creativity on the grounds outside the Pentucket MS.
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Participants were given one of the historical index cards. Working alone or in small groups, they turned one of the pre-fab silhouettes into the historic character on their card using only colored tape.
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Short demonstrations on how to draw with tape occured throughout the day to help us get the hang of the process. Music from local artist "Plum Island Pans" rounded out this relaxed day of community creativity.
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Once the mural was complete, participants were shown how to remove their tape art character and re-tape them individually in spots around the three communities. This temporary art exhibit was displayed in the towns for 7 days.
Part IV -- July 27 - Aug 1
Tape Art interviewed participants who were interested in being part of the Drawing From Our Past video that documented the process.
Part V --Aug. 3
Tape Art Wrap Up: A Public Debriefing. Participants retrieved their Tape Art historic characters and brought them all back to the Middle School to become one big, round pile of tape. We enjoyed some light refreshments as we discussed the process, and the value of public art and working together as a community. We viewed the “Drawing From our Past” video and saw examples of other very impressive Tape Art creations from all over the world.
