'The Future of the Past Is Here Now' by Curtis Williams

We commissioned artist Curtis Williams to create an interior mural at the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library in Brighton.

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This project is in the fabrication phase.

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1 City Hall Square
Room 802

Boston, MA 02201-2029
United States

Project Details

Project Context

The City of Boston commissioned Curtis Williams to create this mural as part of the third round of the Transformative Public Art Program. The Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture allocated more than $1 million toward murals at 10 sites across nine neighborhoods as part of the program. The budget for this project is $20,000. The mural is located at the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library (419 Faneuil Street) in Brighton.

Transformative Public Art Program

The Site

The Faneuil Branch is currently undergoing a $14 million renovation. The renovations include:

accessibility updates to the entrance and restrooms
upgraded technology
a community room that will cater to a range of programming needs
a new children’s space
sustainability enhancements to the building, and
updated interior finishes and furnishings that still preserve the historic character of the space.

The branch serves Brighton residents, workers, students, and community organizations. It is known for its excellent children’s programming, author talks, musical performances, art exhibitions, and more. The artwork will be located on a wall in the children's space of the library.

The Artwork

Curtis worked with the project partners on two engagement sessions with the community, including:

an artist talk with community members and library staff, and
a kids drawing workshop at the Oak Square YMCA that took place during spring vacation.

Curtis collected images of the children's artwork developed during the workshop. A Faneuil Branch librarian also provided Curtis with an image of artwork by Jairam Rao, a Brighton teenager who passed away in 2019. Curtis incorporated several of these pieces into his final design.

For this digital mural, Curtis wanted people to be able to see and remember things from when times were simpler. He also aims to inspire creativity and joy with things like cartoons and childhood icons, dinosaurs, toys, and outer space.

The artwork will be printed on a high performance vinyl wrap and will be installed on the 18’3” x 8’ 11 ½ wall.

"This piece to me represents the vast expansion of our imaginations and how anything we set our mind to can be possible. Everything starts off simply as an idea and the more you believe and work toward it, it becomes reality. I was so inspired by the art day I had with the kids and being able to see the works they created. No hindrance, just pure creativity. So when starting my design I wanted to capture some of that energy and incorporate some of their works into the final work."

- Curtis Williams, Artist