New Art Project Coming to Columbus Park

By Phil Orlandella

A sculpture called “Changing Course” is being installed on the underside of trellis along the waterfront at Christopher Columbus Park.

Installation will continue for a few more weeks and the finished sculpture, made up of plastic painted bottles, will be up until the end of September, when the installation will be removed and will be recycled.

The sculpture consists of hundreds of plastic water bottles collected in just two months from residents and businesses in the North End and Waterfront, and hung to look like a school of fish.

Students from the Nazzaro Community Center, residents from the Spalding Rehabilitation Center and many other volunteers painted the bottles.

“Everyone enjoyed participating in the making and hanging the fish,” Robyn Reed told the Review.

The art and installation was inspired by research about Henderson Island, the most polluted and remote island in the world, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific.

Found by marine scientist to have the highest density of debris recorded anywhere in the world. The debris is made up of 99.8 percent of plastic.

“The idea behind the art piece is to show that we can change the course of trash, instead of all these bottles heading out to the ocean and perhaps eventually out to Henderson Island, we can recycle, or limit our use of these plastic items,” said Robyn Reed of the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park.

“Perhaps people will become more aware of what happens to the trash we use every day and how quickly it can accumulate,” Reed added.

            Any questions about the project, contact Robyn at robyn@foccp.org.