(Please direct your comments, if you wish, to art@publicartboston.com and if you wish to look at submissions by other wonderful artists.)

Our proposal for this "Tribute" reflects the vitality of the lives, arduousness of work, and continued cultural presence of emigrated Sicilian fishermen and their families in the City of Boston. It has dual goals, the first of which is to highlight the significance of the water's edge in a century-old, well-attended annual community event, the August processional celebration of The Blessing of the Fleet, which begins with a parade through the North End streets and Christopher Columbus Park and culminates in the tossing of the flowers into the sea by young descendants of the fishermen. This ritual, whose venue and destination our proposal enhances, is orchestrated by its founders, the Society of The Madonna del Soccorso di Sciacca (Our Lady of Help of Sciacca), and is celebrated by significant numbers of North Enders as well as attended by countless others. The second goal is to realize a unique visitor attraction that speaks to the history of the Sicilian Fishermen, standing as a beacon, suggesting to visitors something of the courage, fortitude and persistence of their enterprise, while evoking their memory and cultural contribution to Boston. It catches the eye from a distance and gradually reveals itself, exciting the interest of visitors from all over the world, with several masts speaking to the sailor’s hope of a safe mooring, and shimmering nets - visible both day and night - serving as representative veils from this deserving, important (and to many whom we have interviewed, as the steel netting suggests, unforgettable and eternal) past.

William Reimann, Sandro Carella, Elizabeth Ghiseline, May 2013

Boston and Cambridge, MA.

NorthSquareCircle.org

North Square, the oldest public plaza in the city is unfortunately somewhat barren, having lost trees planted there during rainstorms and has no public seating areas, save for the Rachel Revere Park close by.

Efforts currently under way by Crosstown Art to assemble a design for North Square that will significantly improve the usability, accessibility and enjoyment of it by all.

Please see the NorthSquareCircle.org (under construction)