Radian Boston
In partnership with Radian Boston, art_works collaborated on an art program spanning the building's lobby and resident amenity spaces in tandem with a larger design refresh led by RODE Architects.
Left to right: Michael Zachary, Shoreline, 2024, acrylic on panel, 54” x 54” © Michael Zachary; Stephen Proski, The Serpentine Kiss, 2024, ceramic installation, 146” x 486 © Stephen Proski. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
Industry: Real Estate
Company Partners: Radian Boston, RODE Architects
Services: Artwork Sourcing, Visitor Engagement, Installation, Impact Summary
Goal + Impact: At art_works, creating art programs for our company partners is a gesture that involves much more than simply putting art on the wall. Visual impact is essential, but artwork can also speak to people, places, and values in varying degrees.
Initially functioning as Boston's former shoreline, the location on which Radian now sits was once home to the city's burgeoning textile industry, which peaked in the nineteenth century. Eventually, the site hosted textile-related companies like Dainty Dot Hosiery. Given the neighborhood's dual maritime and textile histories, our project goal was to intentionally integrate art into the building's design and find ways to connect to the area's unique geological and economic pasts. The artist projects we pursued offered different paths toward this conceptual mandate.
Michael Zachary rendered a portrait of Boston's original shoreline in a tondo painting, while Stephen Proski's 60-foot ceramic installation unfurls across a curved wall to mimic the shape of a wave. Steven J. Cabral's paintings collage fabric into abstract compositions while Adrienne Shishko used found textiles in a woven painting. Both artists show how reclaimed textiles, like buildings, carry unique markers that can be updated and repurposed. By creating opportunities for artists to expand their practices in bold new ways, we engineered an art program that uplifts broader visual, conceptual, and material conversations embedded within a place.
Featured Artists: Stephen Proski, Adrienne Shishko, Michael Zachary, Steven J. Cabral
Artwork pictured:
Stephen Proski, The Serpentine Kiss, 2024. Ceramic installation. 146” x 486. © Stephen Proski. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
Adrienne Shishko, Revisiting the Past, 2024. Paint, canvas, fabric, thread, deer fencing, zip ties. 72” x 48”. © Adrienne Shishko. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
Michael Zachary, Shoreline, 2024. Acrylic on panel. 54” x 54” © Michael Zachary. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
Steven J. Cabral, Finding Space #5, 2023. Acrylic, crayons, flashe, and paper on canvas. 40” x 40”. © Steven J. Cabral. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
Steven J. Cabral, Finding Space #6, 2023. Acrylic, markers, crayons, flashe, paper, and fabric on canvas. 40” x 42”. © Steven J. Cabral. Photography by Flaunt Boston.
