Public library to provide canvas for celebration of city's diverse culture
By Terry Date, Eagle Tribune
Windows dominate Lawrence Public Library's south side but for its far end, where a tall, barren concrete wall stretches three stories from the ground to the flat roof.
Soon, the vertical rectangle, facing Haverhill Street and the Campagnone Common, will sport set pieces — stacked art panels that display illustrative vistas of Lawrence's past, present and future.
The public art will light up at night. The project also includes lighting for the library's main entrance on Lawrence Street.
The art panels are the latest brainchild of Elevated Thought, an arts-based program made up of Lawrence teens and young adults who are shaping changes in what people think about themselves and the city.
Catalysts for change are cooperation and culture — including visual arts, music, poetry and writing.
Elevated Thought public art adorns eight outdoor locations in Lawrence, including the Buckley Transportation Center ("Bubble Girl" in 2018), the 423 Haverhill St. site (Black Jesus in 2018) and the 429-431 Essex St. abstract ("Alley Way Mural" 2016).
On the Friday after Christmas, five Elevated Thought leaders and the nonprofit's founding executive director Marquis Victor gathered at the initiative's ground-floor headquarters in the Everett Mills and described their latest project.
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