This year at JP Open Studios, Boston Makers worked with the Hyde Square Task Force to create over 500 origami lanterns illuminated by “throwies” simple LED circuits created with LEDs and 3 volt batteries. The lanterns were handmade during community workshops throughout the day and then arranged into an installation on the steps of the Blessed Sacrament Church, by Candice Ivy, MassArt professor and Boston-area artist.
The installation was accompanied by a day full of activities in the plaza organized by the Hyde Square Task Force, which included live portrait painting by acclaimed Dorchester artist Cedric Douglas of Celia Cruz, “The Queen of Salsa,” in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. and Afro-Latin dance and music performances by Hyde Square Task Force youth, and a community input ribbon installation where the community was invited to share their vision for the future arts and civic center housed in the Blessed Sacrament Church by writing their ideas on a piece of ribbon and adding it to an installation on the doors of the building.
Read more about this event in the Jamaica Plain Patch: Hyde Square Task Force Brings Art, Culture to JP Open Studios, Matt Perkins, September 23, 2014.
