people & happenings
A YEAR OF INSPIRATION : CELEBRATING OUR 2021 ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Anna Moir Grants & Communications Manager
I n 2021 , Mount Auburn ’ s Artist-in-Residence program awarded project grants to five artists , who then spent a year creating original work rooted in their experiences at the Cemetery . Read on for project highlights , showcasing the unique creative perspectives these talented artists brought to Mount Auburn in the past year .
Zhonghe ( Elena ) Li
Visual artist Zhonghe ( Elena ) Li created traditional Chinese papercuts and pleinair watercolors for her project , The Art of Living Together – a story of how Mount Auburn maintains a balance between humans and nature in its landscape . Her work can be found online at https :// wildcraneblog . wordpress . com /, and was exhibited at the Watertown Free Public Library in March 2022 .
Ponnapa Prakkamakul
Visual artist Ponnapa Prakkamakul used mixed media painting and abstract pastel on paper to explore the concept of change in Mount Auburn ’ s landscape , through foliage and colors of the sky across different seasons . Ponnapa is scheduled to exhibit her work later in 2022 and will publish digital content closer to that time . Stay tuned for more information in the coming months !
Jennifer Lin
Choreographer Jennifer Lin created a site-specific dance performance , The Gathering Place , which represented the lives of ten historic characters buried at Mount Auburn . The Gathering Place was performed on our grounds in October 2021 .
Todd Thibaud
Musician Todd Thibaud composed , produced , and recorded two original songs inspired by the Cemetery and its history , “ Sweet Auburn ” and “ Louisa May .” Recordings are available at mountauburn . org / todd-thibaud /.
Ben Denzer
Book designer Ben Denzer spent the spring of 2021 collecting and pressing thousands of dandelions from our landscape , which he compiled into an art book , 6,000 Dandelions , available online at https :// catalogpress . org / 6-000-Dandelions . His goal was to represent the transient natural beauty that happens each year at Mount Auburn , showing the dandelions ’ bloom cycle before they turned to seeds and disappeared .
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