Arts

New Dewey Square mural honors Indigenous heritage

The Greenway Conservancy will debut its 10th mural installation on Sept. 19, paying respect to Indigenous culture and other social and political movements.

New Dewey Square mural "your spirit whispering in my ear" by artist Jeffrey Gibson in process of going up on Sept. 9, 2024. Photo by David L Ryan/Globe Staff

By Nia Harmon

2 minutes to read

In partnership with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), The Greenway Conservancy will feature its first mural designed by an Indigenous artist with its 10th installation in the cycle.

Indigenous-American multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson will debut your spirit whispering in my ear on Sept. 19 with an opening celebration that includes performance, art-making, and music from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The mural contains ten different elements that honor how Indigenous, Native, and other oppressed communities combat systemic obstacles “with faith, courage and strength,” Gibson said in a statement about the installation.

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“I often say the phrase ‘SAY A PRAYER’ casually when I am about to do something that matters to me. It is a simple way to call upon good energy and protection from those who have come before me. I am not only speaking to my ancestors but also to artists, past and present activists, the planet, the universe, and to all living things surrounding us,” said Gibson.

Painted by artists the craftspeople of Overall Murals, the mural will feature images of pins out of the artists’ personal collection from different social and political movements that advocate for bodily autonomy, feminist movements, peace, freedom, environmentalism, and questioning reality.

Recreations of two beaded masks from previous installations, They Play Endlessly, 2021 and IN TIME YOU’LL BE FINE, 2021 will be displayed alongside the other culturally significant symbolism of burning sage and a beaded snake.

Gibson is no stranger to Boston’s art scene. In his 2014 performance piece Timeline 1.29.14 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the artist choreographed a conversation between himself, a bowl, a Jackson Pollock painting, an ancient ancestral Pueblo bowl – where he personified the objects – and an art critic who acted as a therapist. This performance was designed to confront the relationships between Western art, spirituality, and navigating experimentation and tradition as an Indigenous artist.

Originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Gibson is a citizen of the world.

Apart from the U.S., Gibson has lived in Germany, Korea, and the United Kingdom, and has now settled in New York. Being half Cherokee and a citizen of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Gibson fuses his heritage into his practices of sculpting, painting, printmaking, video, and performance.

The Conservancy’s Public Art Program aims to bring contemporary art to downtown Boston with free, temporary exhibitions that spark meaningful experiences and conversations about art and the human experience.

Registration for the family-friendly event is free.

Nia Harmon

Community Co-op

Nia Harmon is a community co-op for Boston.com and a journalism student at Emerson College. She is a journalism major with a minor in media studies at Emerson College. She is a native of Dallas, Texas.