Malden Arts presents Covid Memorial artwork on Northern Strand

  With reverence for the healing power of the arts, Malden Arts announced plans for the newest addition to the ARTLine on the Northern Strand Community Trail. Located at the Franklin Street crossing of the trail in Malden, a COVID-19 memorial will be built featuring a sculpture, a bench and a mural of poetry and art.

  “This pocket park will not only serve as public art, but also a special space to remember and honor those that we lost to COVID pandemic, the families who are grieving, the workers who went above and beyond, and our neighbors who pitched in and came together,” said Malden Arts President Ari Taylor.

  As Phase Two of the ARTLine begins, Malden Arts is grateful to Senator Jason Lewis, who had state funds set aside for this project, Councillor-at-Large Debbie DeMaria, who generously provided additional funding for the sculpture and the bench, and to Representative Paul Donato, who was instrumental in working with the MBTA.

  A New England artist was chosen for the sculpture and the bench out of applicants from Phase One of the ARTLine. He is Thomas Berger from Kittery, Maine. Both pieces will be made of local granite and feature implanted mosaics of blues set flush into a fish sculpture, a wave bench and a mosaic pool. Fish and water are powerful symbols of interconnectedness in many cultures throughout human history.

  Malden Arts will be putting out a Call to Artists seeking contributions from local poets and artists for a mural to honor the victims of COVID. Malden resident Lisa Sears has coordinated two exhibits that invited artists to create visual depictions of work by local poets. Malden Arts will reach out to this valuable pool of local talent to create this mural.

  Our hope is that this will become another cherished location along the ARTLine – joining the Ed Emberley mural and “Spirit in the Sky” mural on Exchange Street; the bike sculpture, bench and mural on Canal Street; and the Frank Stella mural and the train murals on Centre Street.

  Malden Arts is particularly grateful to Councillor DeMaria, not only for her generous contribution to this project, but also for her energy, wisdom and heart in her work as City Councillor for the past 10 years. She has chosen to retire from that role, and we are honored that she has chosen to partner with Malden Arts for this final project of her legacy. We hope that it will embody her generous spirit and serve as a welcome gathering spot for Malden residents using the Northern Strand Community Trail.

  “The plans of Malden’s Covid-19 Memorial pocket park will be impressive! My collaboration with Malden Arts is simply a dream come true. From the details of location, the implementation of tiles that are reflective of water, as the community asked for, to the contemplative location; I’m so very, very pleased,” said Councillor DeMaria.