The Story of North Square Stories

AWARDS

North Square Stories and the reconstruction of North Square received two awards in 2020.

Boston Preservation Alliance

In recognition of, among other things, the importance of storytelling in keeping our histories alive.

READ MORE →

American Public Works Association

For excellence in the management and administration of public works projects.

READ MORE →

ABOUT THE PROJECT

North Square Stories Project Statement | A+J Art+Design

On September 23, 2019, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the North Square project team and the North End community celebrated the completed reconstruction of Boston’s oldest public square. North Square is the location of many sites of local and national historical significance: Paul Revere House, Mariners House, Sacred Heart Church, numerous other historic buildings and The Freedom Trail. Now it is also home to Boston’s newest permanent public artwork, A+J Art+Design’s North Square Stories. A+J joined the project team of the Boston Public Works Department (PWD), BETA Group Inc., and the Boston Art Commission of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the project broke ground on October 11, 2017.
READ MORE

ARTIST STATEMENT

NORTH SQUARE STORIES: PARTICIPATORY ENGAGEMENT IN BRONZE FROM A NEW GENERATION OF MONUMENTS
North Square Stories is a site-specific, long-term public art installation that was commissioned by the City of Boston as the pilot project for the City’s new percent-for-art program. North Square is located in Boston’s historic North End neighborhood and has been in continuous use as a public square since the 1630’s. The Freedom Trail passes through the Square which, prior to the Pandemic, was visited annually by over 4 million people. As such, the Square is historically rich and varied. Known historical figures such as Paul Revere, who lived on the Square in a house that still stands, overshadow the names and stories of lesser known or unknown North Square figures.
CONTINUED

THE SCULPTURES

Find out more about the North Square Stories artwork in North Square.

1798 North Square View

The first sculpture encountered on arriving at North Square from the south along the Freedom Trail and North Square Street.

READ MORE →

Story Vault Map

North End Story Map

A thee-dimensional map of the North End is installed on the north side of the Square.

READ MORE →

Interactive Marine Instrument

Fantastical Historical Nautical Instrument

A complex viewing and navigation instrument, with an assemblage of scopes facing in many different directions…

READ MORE →

What We Brought With Us

A miniature landscape of North Square inside a suitcase, celebrating North End traditions and made with help from local students…

READ MORE →

MEET THE PROJECT TEAM

A+J Art+Design

Artist Team

A+J Art+Design is a multidisciplinary collaboration between artists Ann Hirsch and Jeremy Angier who believe that public art can provoke and entice while inspiring civic engagement.

READ MORE →

The Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture and Boston Art Commission

City of Boston Arts Board

The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC) “enhances the quality of life, the economy, and the design of the City through the arts…

READ MORE →

Boston Public Works with BETA Group, Inc.

Project Lead and Design Consultants

The Boston Public Works Department (BPWD) will be making site improvements to North Square in collaboration with Design Consultants BETA Group, Inc.

READ MORE →

Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services

Community Advisory Panel

The Boston Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services helped administer the North Square Public Art Project Advisory Panel. You can see posts on the Panel’s activity through our blog:

Advisory Panel Blog Posts →

 

RECENT POSTS

WITH THANKS

We thank Joseph Fleury and the Boston Public Works Department, Karin Goodfellow, Kara Eliot-Ortega and Sarah Rodrigo of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the Boston Art Commission, Architectural Paving and Stone and BETA Inc. for their support and partnership as well as the Selection Committee for the North Square Public Art project and Mayor Marty Walsh for his support.

We especially thank the NEWNC and NEWRA community groups and members of our Advisory Panel, including: Jim Pasto, Nina Zannieri, Ben Edwards, Suzanne Taylor, Richard and Bennett Molinari, Victor Brogna, Tommy Damigella, John Pregmon, Lindsay Yazzolino, David Kubiak, L’Merchie Frazier and the National Braille Press as well as Matt Conti and Northendwaterfront.com and Phillip Orlandella and the North End Regional Review. We also thank students of the St. John and Eliot Schools who contributed luggage label drawings to the “What We Brought With Us” sculpture.  And so many others… Thank you!