Directory

Carolyn Lewenberg is a visual artist, educator, urban gardener, and mother who collaborates with plants, trees, animals, other humans, insects, birds, and the land. Their practice is about understanding and sharing the magic of existence and inspiring active engagement and presence in caring for all beings we are in community with. They are guided by a belief that the strength and humility of these relationships will determine our ability to adapt to and even thrive in changing environmental and social conditions, and that real safety and peace is only possible through deepening relationships with the natural world, cross-cultural organizing, and community collaboration in how we care for our streets, parks,waterways and other shared public spaces.

Industry Experience

Primary Employment

HeArtist– Independent artist and arts and culture practitioner working with communities on projects related to Creative Placemaking, Green Infrastructure, and commissioned artwork that works closely with the site stakeholders to create work that connects people with the spirit of place and our more-than-human kin.

Boston, MA 1/16 – present

Metropolitan Area Planning Council Artist in Residence – Developed and implemented innovative public art projects to demonstrate planning priorities in action; developed creative community engagement approaches in planning projects; worked as part of a team to establish MAPC’s creative community placemaking practice. This was an 18 month residency.  

Boston, MA 4/17 – 11/18

Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Artward Bound – Supported the Director and all staff in all administrative capacities at this multi-year college access program in the visual arts that supports high school students academically, artistically, and with life skills. Served as Acting Director for over a year in leadership transitions.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA 1/12 – 12/15

Green Ambassador Program Manager –Lead all aspects of a Boston Harbor Islands youth jobs program for Boston area high school students to engage in natural resource management. Duties included developing work plans, and managing youth workers and program instructors. 

Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, Boston, MA 4/10 – 5/12

Select Municipal Public Art Projects

Riverbend Labyrinth – Creating a meditative space for healing. The design features a triskelion form using riverstones, stamped concrete and a dense vegetated buffer to create a cozy sense of enclosure. Collaborating with Medford Poet Laureate on developing poems in the middle of each swirl.

City of Medford, MA 2023

Fruitful Resilience – Worked with a team of youth to create a trail of stencil art from Mary O’Malley Park to Island End Park, to raise awareness about a massive green infrastructure project that will protect the New England Produce Distribution Center from flooding. Created a giant pineapple at Island End to draw attention to the site. 

Chelsea Collaborative and Dept of Housing and Community Development, Chelsea, MA 2021

Chelsea Copia y Pega Wheatpaste Mural and Division Street Neighborway Coordinator – Project coordination, technical assistance, artist mentorship, and successful installation for two public art projects involving a series of painted wall murals, and wheatpaste murals that celebrate Chelsea.

Dept of Housing and Community Development, Chelsea, MA 2020

Jon Norton Community Rain Garden – Worked with the City of Everett Planning Department, Public Schools, DPW and National Grid to design and build a new garden at the entrance to the Northern Strand Community Trail. The raingarden mitigates flooding, provides a visual demonstration of nature-based solutions and introduces pollinator species to improve habitat and biodiversity. This was a grant funded project administered by the MAPC and funded by the Barr Foundation.

Everett, MA 2019

Hull Art Walk – Transforming underutilized land at the gateway to Hull into a beautiful venue for local and regional art, culture, community gathering and gardening space. Creating sculptural lighting elements that engage 144 community members in contributing painted buoys that will be incorporated in six pieces.

Hull, MA 2019

Sole of Rockland – With REiMAGINE ROCKLAND and MAPC, developed the concept and design for an art cart, modeled after a shoeshine cart where residents and visitors highlighted the most valued downtown places on a map, and created unique watercolor footprints. Footprints were turned into stencils and painted on the sidewalks at Rockland’s favorite places and hung in an empty storefront window. Footprints were also used as design elements in butterfly shaped sculptural seating that will be installed adjacent to the Town Offices. Rockland High School students created poetry in response to the theme of Transformation to paint on the seats.

Rockland, MA.         2018 – 2019

A Ripple Effect sculptural community garden – This project advanced the City’s 2017 Open Space and Recreation Plan update and a Community Food Assessment, through community engaged public art and urban agriculture. It promoted innovative thinking with regards to the beautification and improvement of public health and community building. Paths and garden beds designed in concentric circles around a central sculptural bench represent ripples from a drop of water. The site has a high water table and garden beds built over buried logs absorb the water and self-irrigate the garden. Everett high school students painted cutoffs from the bench and made a sculptural mural for a garden shed built for the project. I worked with the City of Everett, Everett Community Growers, UMass Boston, and Public Health and Environmental Planners from MAPC. 

Everett, MA           2018

Select Creative Placekeeping Sculptural Installations and Pop-Up’s

Diamonds of Egleston Square – Was awarded a Mass Cultural Council STARS residency to work with Greater Egleston High School Students to create sculptural seating that integrates quotes from community members in Lawson Park, in the heart of Egleston Square. 2024

Rafael Hernandez Collaborative Mural – Collaborating with 6th graders, Art Teacher Maria Lopez, and muralists Alex Adamo and Kit Collins on a mural at the end of the playground on Columbus Ave 2024

Vital Organs / Be the Change – Protecting trees and plants is critical for a healthy planet, and, foundational to do this work, equity issues must also be addressed. Boston’s Tree Equity Maps show how the health of urban forest ecosystems in different neighborhoods mirrors health and income disparities, and how communities of color are disproportionately affected by lack of access to greenspaces. Vital Organs is a 6’ rib cage with a tree in the middle and it will point people towards ways they can support environmental restoration work in vulnerable communities. Commissioned by JArts. 2022

Fireflies along the Mystic – Sculptural fireflies will be popping up along the banks of the Mystic River in newly restored ecological habitats. Firefly sculptures were chosen to amplify Mystic River Watershed Association’s vision for a vibrant, healthy and resilient Mystic River watershed. Fireflies live in fields, meadows, forests, and other natural habitats, and these areas have become fewer due to development. The restoration work is bringing back natural habitats so that fireflies may take back their rightful place in the heart of the magic of summer evenings! Community members will have opportunities to embellish the firefly wings with their own visions of a vibrant, healthy and resilient Mystic River Watershed. 2022

Seed Exchanges – The Souper Dress Memorial Seed Exchange was created to alchemize the essence of consumerism that the disposable Souper Dress was created to promote and turn it into a garment to encourage community gardening. It was installed in front of the Egleston Branch Library in May 2021 and moved to Worcester in August as part of the Art in the Park sculpture Biennial, as is returning to the Egleston Library in April 2022. 2021-2022

Green Crabs at the Beach – In collaboration with GreenCrab.org, and graphic designer Eileen Riestra, and with support from Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay and the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Better Beaches Grant Program, six pop-up events on beaches in the metro Boston area will inform beachgoers about green crabs, an introduced species that causes major problems for local sea life and coastal environments. The pop-ups feature a sculpturally modified tent crafted from repurposed fishing materials, free green crab coloring books, and Green Crab tastings at local restaurants across the Greater Boston Area. Summer 2021

Schools of Thought on Climate Change – In collaboration with MAPC’s Public Health and Arts and Culture Team. The art installation shared findings from focus groups with workers across farming, construction, fishing, and home healthcare about the role of climate change in their industry. Using materials from each industry, schools of fish represented workers’ efforts determination to thrive in the face of climate change. Their words in the bubbles above the fish shed light on how climate change is already impacting these workers and the actions they think are necessary to prevent, or prepare for, or adapt to climate impacts. This installation popped up at the Wake Up the Earth Festival, Cambridge River Festival, Boston Greenfest, the Greenovate Boston Racial Equity and Climate Roundtable, and the MAPC Clean Energy Forum. 2019

Dancing Elotes  – Collaborating with the Veronica Robles Cultural Center, this project offered the community  weekly opportunities throughout the summer to eat Elotes, work on a collaborative sculpture with the corn husks and cobs, and learn and perform la Danza del Permiso. The sculpture was showcased this fall, and honored the lives of the young victims of street violence and substance abuse. My role included creation of the sculpture.

East Boston, MA Summer–Fall 2016

Workshops

Foundations of Shared Values in Public Art Projects – In this workshop, participants learn about developing foundations for public art projects that balance values established by the community and the values of the artist. Participants walk away from the workshop with clarity on their own values that drive their work, tools to understand the values of the community artists are working with, and strategies to use values to drive community participation.

Assets for Artists, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art         Fall 2019

Public Art Discussion series for Artists, Planners and Arts Administrators – Developed and presented a series of three discussions, creating space for artists, arts administrators, regional and municipal planners in Metropolitan Boston to share thinking, vision together, gain access to resources, and create more opportunities for a collaborative approach. This series explored how public art can address a range of planning goals and objectives, including green infrastructure, community building, economic development, and public health.

New England Foundation for the Arts, Boston, MA           2017-2018

Creative Placemaking Workshops –Worked with the MAPC Arts and Culture team to develop and deliver three professional development workshops in to arts administrators, community groups and municipal staff. 

Salem, Worcester, Boston 2017-18

Rosie the Riveter Participatory Sculpture – as part of the National Park Service event “Rosies Invade the Yard,” I created the image of Rosie the Riveter using hardware on a panel of magnetic sheeting. One panel on either side invited people to use hardware and make their own images and designs. The question “Who is your shero?” invited people to create their own tin engravings in honor of their female heroes and add to the panels.

Charlestown Navy Yard, MA Summer 2016

Birdseed Tree – worked with toddlers and pre-school students to make a tree that turned from a percussion instrument with bamboo chimes, into a sculptural bird feeder. During the winter birds ate all the seeds and it  turned back into an instrument. 

Cambridge-Ellis School, Cambridge, MA Fall 2015

Trends – Collaborated with artist Cedric Douglas to facilitate a creative design process for youth interns to investigate the climate change trends in the Boston Harbor Islands and then redesign the ranger uniform to be appropriate for this climate. Youth presented the project at the National Youth Service Learning Conference.

National Park Service, Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park Winter/Spring 10

Teaching and Youth Work

Part-Time Faculty, Studio Foundations – Teaching PreSemester, Visual Language, and Form Study to first year students. The topics include learning about terms and concepts common to all of the visual arts (composition, space content, color); exploring material, media and presentation skills (traditional and digital technologies); initiating an historical and contemporary context for art and culture and furthering a student’s own sense of direction.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA Fall 2019 – present

Rain Garden Design/Build Studio – Through research, observation on the trail, meeting people who are stewards along the trail, and looking at maps, I worked with a team of 8th grade students to detect patterns and read the landscape, learn about plant communities and the movement of water. We designed a new rain garden and I worked with the City of Everett DPW and National Grid to build it. 

Everett, MA Spring 2019

Mentorship for Emerging Artist Commissions – Created opportunities for four emerging artists studying at MassArt to create commissions in a corporate setting and develop work that reflected the values of the organization and their constituents. Facilitated meetings with artists and staff and provided critical feedback.

Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Boston, MA           Fall 2018

Guest Lecturer and Capstone Project Host– Spoke about Land Art and social justice to Urban Agriculture students and worked with three students over the course of a semester to support the design and installation of A Ripple Effect, a community garden site in Everett.

University of Massachusetts Boston  Fall 2017

Arts Administration

Condon Shell Mural – developing and distributing the RFP and leading the artist selection process.

CACHE, Coalition for Arts, Culture, and a Healthy Economy, Medford, MA           2021

Boston Harbor [Re]Creation – Consulting for Boston Harbor Now, Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the National Park Service, I am developing an Artist in Residence Program. This includes event organizing, design and implementation of evaluation, and coordinating a juried artist selection process and organizing an annual free arts and culture cruise, featuring music and performing arts, that draws 700 people.  

Boston Harbor Islands national park area, MA 2016-2019

Franklin Park Art Grove  – Collaborating with the Boston Art Commission, Franklin Park Coalition and the Trotter Institute of African American Studies to organize site responsive art interventions in the woods.

Franklin Park, Boston, MA Summer 2015

Bumpkin Island Art Encampment – Organized and co-curated a 5-day outdoor art-making experience for artists to use island resources to create site-specific sculptural and performative artwork. Organized gallery exhibitions of work created during the experience at Mobius for two of the years,  and Thompson Design Group.

Boston Harbor Islands national park area, MA 2007-2012

Art in the Park – Organized an open call and juried outdoor sculpture exhibition as a consultant for the Worcester Cultural Council in Elm Park, an historic community resource designed by Olmsted.

Worcester, MA           Summers 09 and 10

Racks of Art Sculptural Bike Rack Initiative – Developed project and recived funding from the Boston Art Commission. This program was adopted by Artists for Humanity and continues to grow as their own initiative.

Mission Hill Main Streets, Boston, MA 2006

Boston Art Windows: Beauty in Building Materials – Installations in empty storefronts in Downtown Crossing.  

Boston Redevelopment Authority 7/1/06 – 9/30/06

Functional Art Competition and Show – In support of the Building Materials Resource Center. Competition and exhibition encouraged creative re-use of building materials. Featured 25 artists.

JP Art Market, Jamaica Plain, MA May 2006

Outdoor Sculptures

• Nest, Franklin Park Zoo 2017-present
• Birdseed Tree, Cambridge-Ellis School 2015-2016
• Reset, Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA         2012
• HarborArts, International Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition at the Boston Harbor Shipyard     2010-2015
• Sneaks, Bartlett Yard, Boston, MA         2013
• Sprouting Green Ideas, Boston Latin School, Boston, MA         2013
• Hands Up! Thompson Island, Boston, MA         2012
• Portals, Art in the Park, Elm Park, Worcester, MA         2011
• Old Frog Pond Farm, Sculpture Walk,         2010
• Wheelchairs, Bumpkin Island, Boston, MA         2009

Indoor Exhibitions and Installations

• Upstream, Commission, The Metropolitan Area Planning Council Lobby         2018-present
• Mapping the Dorchester way Part II, The Medicine Wheel Gallery, Boston, MA         April-May 2015
• Scraps, Group show, The Distillery Gallery, Boston, MA         Dec 2013 – Jan 2014
• Off Hours Staff Exhibition, MassArt President’s Gallery         Dec 2013 – Jan 2014
• O is For Oriole, window installation, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston, MA         2012-present
• Kiddush Cup, CANstruction, Jewish Community Center, Newton, MA 2012
• The Art of the Teacher,  Group Show, MassArt         Winter 2011
• Collective Expressions, Group show, Wales Street Studios, Abington, MA         October  2009, 2010
• Future Arts 2009, Group show, presented by Future Classics, Boston, MA         April 2009
• Spring in Progress, show with one other artist, JP Art Market, Jamaica Plain, MA         April 2009

Press

• Floreak, Michael. “Green crabs are invasive. Lucky for us they are also delicious.” The Boston Globe, 8/17/21.
• Shvonski, Allison. “Cache’s interview with Public Artist Carolyn Lewenberg” Medford Transcript, April 14, 2021
• Sutton, Rebecca. “Art Talk with Public Artist Carolyn Lewenberg.” Web blog post. Art Works Blog, 3/26/2019.
• Nonko, Emily. “Metro Boston to Get More Creative with City Planning.” Web blog post. Next City, 3/20/2019
• Hylton, Cecilia. “An Artist Walks into a Planning Agency.” Web blog post. Barr Foundation, 2/20/2019.
• Greene, April. “AIRs bring fresh perspective to government.” Web blog post. ArtPlace America, 1/25/ 2019.
• Lewenberg, Carolyn S. “A Reflection from MAPC’s First Artist in Residence.” Web blog post. ArtsBlog, Americans for the Arts, 1/25/2019.
• Cook, Greg. “‘Franklin Park Art Grove’: A Guide To The Installations And Performances.” WBUR’s The ARTery, 8/7/2015.
• Oliveira, Rebecca. “Art ‘grove’ coming to Franklin Park.” Jamaica Plain Gazzette, 4/10/2015.
• Abraham, Yvonne. “Let’s open the door to the arts in Boston.” The Boston Globe, 8/29/2013. 
• Schnieider, Dan. “Creative Destruction.” Weekly Dig, 7/24/2013.
• Carlock, Mary. Review, HarborArts, Boston Harbor Shipyard Gallery. Sculpture Magazine. Pg. 68. April 2011.
• Shea, Andrea.  “Looking Out: On Bumpkin Island, It’s ‘Survivor’ For Artists” NPR Interview, 8/5/2010.
• Sweeney, Emily. “Harbor Islands Awash in Art for Summer.” The Boston Globe, 7/26/2009.

Connect:

• carolynl.net
• IG: @carolynlcreative