August | 2014 | I Made That!!

Design for Iron Street Park in Boston by Halvorson Design Partnership

My mosaic, City Square with Reflecting Pool, was installed in the new Iron Street Park on the corner of A Street and Iron Street in Boston’s Fort Point Channel neighborhood in July.

Dan Sacco installing the mosaic in Iron Street Park, Boston

The park was designed by Halvorson Design Partnership, and this mosaic (6′ X 6′) was designed to incorporate the historic themes of the park. Quotations highlighting the history of this area are sandblasted into the concrete plinths in the park, and some of the seating is made from original beams from historic buildings.

The mosaic was inspired by the iconic loft buildings in the neighborhood which were built over 100 years ago by the Boston Wharf Company to be used as warehouses. As you walk around the Fort Point Channel area of Boston you will see round copper Boston Wharf signs on the buildings, which indicate the years in which they were built. The reflecting pool in the center of the mosaic is a reference to the fact that many of these buildings are built over water.

This summer I taught a two-day workshop in white line woodcut at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, MA. I had three talented students and we spent our time together discussing the whys and wherefores of making things while carving lines into clear pine boards and painting watercolor onto the boards to create printed images on Japanese paper. No answers as to why it is so satisfying to learn about color and texture and to explore new materials and to engage in creative problem solving, but we did all of these things as we worked and talked together.