"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.

Concord250: Weaving an Address
2025-04-14 09:00 - 2025-06-14 21:00 | The Umbrella Arts Center, Stow Street 40, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Exhibition: April 14 – June 14, 2025
Opening Reception April 14, 6 p.m.
The Umbrella Arts Center in historic Concord Center will commemorate the semiquincentennial of the American Revolution and “the shot heard round the world” with an ambitious outdoor/indoor public and gallery art exhibition, Weaving an Address, curated by artist Marla McLeod.
For the first time, Weaving an Address combines The Umbrella’s popular Art Ramble public art installation, on view April 15 through October 7 at Brister’s Hill in nearby Walden Woods, with an indoor exhibition (on view April 14 through June 14) in The Umbrella’s Allie Kussin Gallery. The exhibition features site-specific work by eight prominent Black artists combining sculpture, fiber art, installation and live performance inspired by little-known experiences of historical Black inhabitants of Concord and its Walden Woods.
Featured artists in the exhibition are Sharon Chandler Correnty, Ifé Franklin, Stephen Hamilton, Whitney Harris, Ekua Holmes, Perla Mabel, Marla McLeod, Kimberly Love Radcliffe, and Anthony Peyton Young.
Outdoors, large-scale work will be installed on Brister’s Hill, named for Brister Freeman, an enslaved man who won his freedom by serving in the Revolutionary War and then bought the property and lived there along with other formerly enslaved.Indoors at The Umbrella, inter-related fiber artworks will weave narratives from fragmented pasts to offer a vision of how history shapes the present and influences the future.
Supporting community activities include an opening reception on April 14, monthly curator talks, a processional with artist Ifé Franklin, and participation in the town-wide Revolutionary Concordians Trading Card program.
This exhibition is presented as part of the Concord250 commemoration, in partnership with The Walden Woods Project and The Robbins House, in association with Gather 2025, a month-long exploration and celebration of fiber and textile art in Greater Boston, and with permission of Concord Natural Resources Division.
See https://TheUmbrellaArts.org/Weaving for more information about special engagements, wayfinding, artist bios, and background to the exhibition.

April School Vacation Week at the Concord Museum
2025-04-21 - 2025-04-27 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Join a conversation with Martha Washington, a silversmith demonstration, and a program with sailors from the USS Constitution.
Monday, April 21 from 10:00 – 11:00 am: A Personal Conversation in Mrs. Washington’s Bedchamber
Free with Museum Admission. Members Visit Free. Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis.
Step back to 1784 and spend time with Martha Washington (portrayed by Sandy Spector) as she completes dressing for her day in this interactive and informative program. During your time together, Mrs. Washington will share news of her family, and how the current events that her husband is so deeply involved in impacts her family and her developing nation.
Funded in part by a grant from the Concord Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Monday, April 21 from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm: Meet Steve the Silversmith
Free with Museum Admission. Members Visit Free. Drop-In throughout the day.
Meet a real-life silversmith who will be demonstrating his craft and exploring history’s most famous patriot silversmith, Paul Revere!
Wednesday, April 23 from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm: Meet a Sailor
Free with Museum Admission. Members Visit Free. Drop-In throughout the day.
Sailors from the USS Constitution Museum share maritime history and what life was like for an 1812 sailor. Touch artifacts and see photos shared by the sailors.

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-23 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Revolutionary War Game Day!
Join us as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War! Explore the Historic Beverly galleries, showcasing fascinating artifacts from the Revolution. Each gallery will also feature “Make and Take” stations with engaging activities inspired by the pastimes of militia members during their wartime encampments. Visit the Cabot House to play 18th century games: play a round of Fox and Geese or Achi and then take copies home for yourself! Play a game of Dominoes using playing pieces of the era, get moving with a Hoop and Stick or a game of Ninepins! Then try your hand at Quoits, Balero, Draughts, or Knuckles!

Childrens' Reenactment of the Battle of Lexington
2025-04-23 10:00 - 11:15, 2025-04-23 12:30 - 13:45 | The Depot, 13 Depot Square, Lexington, 02420, United States
Calling all aspiring young Patriots and Redcoats! Lexington Historical Society, in partnership with the Lexington Minute Men and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot, welcome all willing participants for an interactive reenactment of the Battle of Lexington! Participants will be trained by members of the Lexington Minute Men or His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot before getting the chance to march onto the historic Lexington Battle Green and reenact the first battle of the American Revolution. Guardians are encouraged to drop off their children for training and return to view the battle reenactment. After the battle, participants will have a chance to interact with members of both the Lexington Minute Men and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot.
Choose from 10:00 – 11:15 AM or 12:30 – 1:45 PM.
$10 per child”

Facing Colonel Alexander Leslie
2025-04-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Tapley Memorial Hall, 13 Page Street, Danvers, MA, 01923, United States
How, why & where the first land battle of the American Revolution could have happened at Salem’s North Bridge in February 1775 instead of in Lexington and at Concord’s North Bridge on April 19th.
Less than two months before April 19th in 1775, the American Revolution’s first land battle could have taken place in Marblehead and/or Salem instead of in Lexington and Concord, in the exact same scenario. The “Salem Alarm” event that occurred in Salem on February 26th, 1775 and later became known as “Leslie’s Retreat,” is now quite familiar — especially after the big 250th anniversary reenactment a few weeks ago, and several educational events about it.
Here in Danvers on April 23, an illustrated program will explore the human side of the near-miss episode, along with its geographical and social context.
Who was the “Leslie” of “Leslie’s Retreat” ? — Why did he and his Regular Army troops march through the crowded and volatile metropolis of Marblehead to march into Salem? — And where in Marblehead did they land?
Detail of a painting by J.O.J. Frost (1920s), depicting the landing of Colonel Leslie’s troops at a cove in Marblehead Harbor. Marblehead Museum collection.
