Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends A Landscape of Remembrance and Reflection | Page 23

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE sweet auburn | 2019 volume ii Introducing Jesse Aron Green By Jenny Gilbert Director of Institutional Advancement e are excited to introduce Mount Auburn Cemetery’s W 2020-2021 Artist-in-Residence, visual artist Jesse Aron Green. Jesse’s work has been exhibited at the Tate Modern; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Harvard Art Museums; the ICA Boston; the Museum of Modern Art; Bologna; and many other museums and galleries around the world. Jesse received a B.A. from Harvard and an M.F.A. from UCLA. Jesse has been visiting Mount Auburn since he was a child, when his mother, who studied landscape architecture, brought him on her walks to study the grounds and plantings. As an undergraduate at Harvard University, Jesse would walk the grounds for respite. More recently, he has been here for memorial services as well. In his own words, “I’ve come for nature, for art, for introspection, and in mourning. As the Artist-in-Residence, I hope to do service to all of the functions that Mount Auburn plays in people’s lives.” Over the coming months, Jesse will explore our grounds, immerse himself in our stories, and begin meeting with staff and stakeholders to conceptualize potential projects for his residency. He brings with him a keen interest in American art and history, along with a track record of incredibly diverse projects which he states “have run the gamut across media: everything from the most traditional of materials—carved marble sculpture, oil paint on linen—to photographs, prints in series, writings, performances, drawings, film and videoinstallation, and everything else besides.” Stay tuned for announcements and updates on his newest projects here at Mount Auburn! he Bob Jolly Charitable Trust was T established in 2013 upon the untimely death of Bob Jolly, a beloved and wellknown local actor most recognized for his work as a costumed interpreter on Boston’s Freedom Trail. When he was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer in 2012, Bob decided to use his estate to establish a charitable trust to make grants for local theater. Bob knew firsthand the challenges of being a professional actor and wanted to support people like himself who sometimes struggled financially. Now, having supported hundreds of Boston actors and theater projects, the Bob Jolly Charitable Trust is making its final awards and has issued a challenge grant to the Friends of Mount Auburn Cemetery. The grant will match dollar-for-dollar every gift to Mount Auburn’s Artist-in-Residence program and support the production of playwright Patrick Gabridge’s Moonlight Abolitionists. The trust made two previous grants for The Mount Auburn Plays in 2018 and 2019. Longtime friend Marshall Williams, who has served as the Trust’s primary trustee, said that Bob “would love the idea of these productions and the fact that equity actors are working in them - he would have been the first to audition.” To make a donation, please contact: Director of Institutional Advancement Jenny Gilbert at 617- Bob Jolly walked at Mount Auburn frequently and loved the cemetery’s history. His funeral celebration harkened back to his hometown traditions with a Dixieland band and a New Orleans style procession out to his gravesite near Willow Pond Knoll, where hundreds of friends and colleagues honored him with a joyful and fitting theatrical farewell. 607-1970 or [email protected], or visit https://mountauburn.org/give/ special-projects/ and choose “Artist-in-Residence.” 21