City of Watertown YardArt is back in 2022. Watertown residents can display their art and get on the official map.
Watertown residents can tap their creative side and beat the winter blues by participating in YardArt 2022.
The second annual outdoor art exhibition begins Friday March 4 and runs through April 3. Entry is free, but participants must register to get onto the YardArt website and onto the official map, said Liz Helfer, the City’s Public Arts & Culture Planner.
Organizers hope to build on the enthusiasm from last year’s event, said Barbara Epstein, a founder of YardArt.
“There was so much enthusiasm for last years’ event,” Epstein said. “People who joined in had a lot of fun. This year will be bigger and better, with the addition of three creative workshops and more walking and biking tours based on our map of installations. We want as many people as possible to experience the joy of letting their imaginations loose. Plus with Covid hanging around, it’s a safe community event that gets people out of their houses.”
City of Watertown This painting of crocuses gave a taste of spring in the late winter in the first edition of YardArt.
Watertown residents produced over 140 pieces for the first YardArt. “Last year there were some really creative projects,” Helfer said
One of her favorites allowed people to participate in a poll by sticking a ball onto a graph.
“It was really fun,” she said. “It was interactive, and it felt like it was participating in a community event.”
The goal for the second edition of YardArt is to get more people to participate, and from more parts of Watertown.
YardArt was launched in 2021 when a few neighbors in East Watertown were thinking about creative ways to work around the restrictions of the pandemic.
“It’s meant to be in the winter, at that transition to spring because YardArt organizers felt it is a dull and dreary time, and people get disheartened,” Helfer said. “And with the ongoing pandemic, it is an even harder time for people. This is a chance to take part in something bigger than themselves.”
City of Watertown
Flamingos took residence in the front yard of a Watertown home during YardArt.
The registered works of art will appear on the interactive online map, along with a statement from the creators, and a photo. The art does not have to be in the yard, Helfer said.
YardArt is a project of the Watertown Cultural Council in collaboration with the Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee, the Mosesian Center for the Arts, Hatch Makerspace, Live Well Watertown, and Watertown Bike and Pedestrian Committee, supported by the Watertown Community Foundation and the Watertown Business Coalition.
“They can be delayed anywhere on the property visible from the public way,” Helfer said. “If there is a window, a porch, or door — as long as it is visible and people can walk or drive or bike by and see your art.”
Helfer and the newly formed Public Arts and Culture Committee are working on other initiatives besides YardArt, including the summer Arts Market and other public arts projects around Watertown.
Register at: www.mosesianarts.org/YardArt
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