"People, Plants & Revolution" Public Art Banners and Audio Tour
2025-04-04 - 2025-05-31 | Town of Arlington, MA, Massachusetts Avenue 730, Arlington, MA, 02476, United States
April 4 to May 31, 2025
Public Art: Commemorative Banners and Audio Tour
Arlington Center, outside along Mass Avenue
People, Plants & Revolution is the theme for a series of colorful banners and an audio tour commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in Arlington, MA. Organized by ArtsArlington, the banners portray the landscape elements and important plants that shaped life in 1775 in Menotomy, as the town was known at the time, a colonial farming village. Learn more about these plants and how people lived, interwoven with revolutionary history, by listening to the audio tour – available anytime and anywhere at www.PlantStories.us. The original silkscreen art used to make the banners is on view at 13FOREST Gallery (through May 23) and the Old Schwamb Mill (through May 31). See versions of the banners up close at Robbins Memorial Town Hall (through September 6) on the second floor. All of the banners and text versions of the audio tour are available at https://artsarlington.org/plants-and-people/.
About the Artists
ArtsArlington’s Public Art Curator Cecily Miller invited artists Suzanne Moseley and Liz Shepherd to design commemorative banners; they were assisted by Lily McDonald and Andrew Palladino.
Suzanne Moseley is an experimental artist, working in printmaking, cyanotype and sculptural formats. She often collaborates, recently with co-artist Liz Shepherd. Her work is in private collections, is often grant-funded and has been exhibited in the US and abroad. Her sculptures from repurposed materials, created with fellow artist Adrienne Shishko, have been featured in Fiber Art Now, The Boston Globe, and New Visionary Magazine. Her ability to work collaboratively garners its own attention, with invitations to discuss her experience, most recently at Berklee College of Music, Harvard Art Museum’s Maker Space and for an upcoming program on Newton Cable News.
Liz Shepherd produces large-scale sculptural installations, which bring to mind ideas about the earthly and the divine. She uses printmaking to enhance objects made of wood or paper. She also produces small, hand-pulled print editions. In the past 15 years she has exhibited in the United States and internationally. Shepherd’s work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Edinburgh College of Art, Syracuse University, Boston Children’s Hospital, the Hanoi (Vietnam) Contemporary Art Centre and the Bernard Zuckerman Museum of Art in Kennesaw, Georgia as well as numerous corporate and private collections. Originally from New York City, Shepherd now lives in Boston. She received her MFA in 2006 from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, which awarded her the prestigious Traveling Fellowship in 2015.
About the Audio Producer
Molly Edwards, Ph.D. produced the audio tour portion of this project. Dr. Edwards is a plant biologist turned science communicator who goes by Science IRL (‘in real life’) online. She is dedicated to telling stories that showcase the humanity and joy of being a scientist and foster a sense of belonging in STEM. In 2022 she received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, where she studied the wild and wonderful petals of columbine flowers. During graduate school she realized her science video hobby was quickly becoming a passion project that would shape her future career. Upon graduating she founded Science IRL Productions and now works with scientists and artists to bring STEM stories to life through digital media.
About ArtsArlington
The Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture – ArtsArlington for short – serves as the umbrella organization for all town-related arts and culture activities. Our mission is to cultivate a sustainable and supportive environment for the arts, enliven public space with accessible creative experiences to strengthen and enrich our community, create opportunities for artists, and invigorate the local economy. Our Public Art Curator, Cecily Miller, organized four projects to commemorate Arlington250 including these commemorative banners as well as work by Nilou Moochhala, Christopher Frost, Asia Kepka, and the fiber artists of Princeton Sankofa Stitchers Modern Quilting Guild. See https://artsarlington.org

Untold Stories: Public Art Commemorating Arlington 250
2025-04-05 08:00 - 2025-05-23 17:00 (America/New_York) | 13 Forest Gallery, Massachusetts Avenue 167a, Arlington, MA, 02474, United States
On view April 5 – May 23, this 13Forest Gallery exhibition spotlights three major public art projects commissioned by Arts Arlington and planned by Public Art Curator Cecily Miller to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution and the critical role of Arlington (formerly the Village of Menotomy) on its very first day of fighting, on April 19, 1775.
Featured artists in the exhibition include Chris Frost and Asia Kepka, Nilou Moochhala, and Suzanne Moseley and Liz Shepherd.
Sat April 26, 4-6PM, “Telling Stories”, talk by curator Cecily Miller and the artists of Untold Stories
Sat May 10, 4-6PM, Show and Tell – a demonstration of natural dyeing techniques and sustainability practices in art and fashion with Asia Kepka.

1775 Conference
2025-04-10 - 2025-04-11 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
The Concord Museum, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society will hold a conference in April 2025 on the theme “1775: A Society on the Brink of War and Revolution”. Held at the Concord Museum, the conference marks the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord, with opportunities for attendees to visit historic sites and view objects and collections significant to the Revolution.

1775: A Society on the Brink of War and Revolution
2025-04-10 18:00 - 2025-04-11 17:00 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
What challenges did New England society face in 1775, and how did they impact the outbreak of fighting in Concord and Lexington?
The Concord Museum, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society invite you to a conference on April 10-11, 2025 on the theme “1775”. The conference will be convened at the Concord Museum and marks the 250th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. On Thursday evening the keynote address will be held by preeminent scholars Serena Zabin, Carleton College, and Robert A. Gross, University of Connecticut Emeritus. Sessions throughout the day on Friday span topics from faith, community, impending war, material culture, and memory.
The conference schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 10
6 PM Welcome Reception
7 PM Keynote Address
Friday, April 11
9 AM Session 1: Faith and Ideas
10:30 AM Session 2: Communities in Crisis
11:45 AM Lunch and Open Time to Visit the Concord Museum
1:30 PM Session 3: The Coming of War
3:00 PM Session 4: Myth, Material, and Memory
4:15 PM Session 5: Concluding Remarks
Conference registration is $20 and includes the Thursday evening reception and a boxed lunch on Friday. The registration fee is waived for graduate students and adjunct faculty. All attendees must register in advance.

A Revolution on Tap: Tavern Culture and the Road Through Somerville to Lexington
2025-04-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Aeronaut Brewery, Tyler Street 14, Somerville, Massachusetts, 02143, United States
What better way to honor the generation of 1775 than to enjoy the ales and ciders many of them drank to drown out the latest outrages from Great Britain? Brandeis Professor Dan Breen will deliver a captivating lecture on New England’s tavern culture and its relevance to the Revolution. Discover how long-gone or remarkably remaining watering holes contributed to the early Revolutionary spirit.

Westford REV 250: “…before we had gone half a mile we were fired on from all sides” the Battles of Lexington & Concord, April 18-19, 1775
2025-04-10 19:00 - 20:30 | Westford Museum, 2 Boston Rd, Westford MA, Boston Road 2, Westford, MA, 01886, United States
The Battles of Lexington and Concord erupted on April 19, 1775, pitting the brave Massachusetts militia against the formidable British forces. This confrontation followed the dramatic Midnight Rides and the urgent Lexington Alarm, which mobilized the countryside in preparation for the impending advance of British troops toward Concord. Tensions reached a breaking point when British soldiers opened fire on the steadfast Lexington militia, igniting the sparks of the American Revolutionary War and ushering in a new era of struggle for independence.
Join Tom Tringale as he recounts the events of April 18-19, 1775—the start of a revolution.
Tringale is a graduate of Salem State College with a degree in History. He has been involved in living History since 1995. He has helped organize numerous events around New England, including planning the 250th anniversary of the Boston Massacre, Battle Road, and the British raids in Bristol, Rhode Island (2028). He is a member of Claus’ Rangers, an American Loyalist living history group based in New York, and the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment, an American Continental Regiment living history group from Easthampton, MA. During Patriots’ Day weekend, Tommy and several friends and fellow history enthusiasts worked together to portray Captain Edward Farmer’s Billerica Company.
Suggested program donation of $10 per person
