BOSTON — Armenian Heritage Park on The Greenway public programs are usually held year-round except during the winter months. However, with virtual adaptations of several programs since March, many programs are keeping people connected, coming together virtually all while expanding our reach and building community. The response to these programs speaks to the Park’s influence and impact, with appreciation to the Park’s Benefactors, Supporters, Collaborators and Friends.
“Our Park on public space is unlike most, with innovative design features that, when experienced as a whole, enlighten, enliven, and enrich our senses of citizenry and community,” comments Ann Zacarian, Founder, Motion Play Ventures, who serves on the Friends’ Programs Planning Team.
A key design feature of the Park is the Abstract Sculpture, a split rhomboid dodecahedron made of stainless steel and aluminum. Annually the sculpture is reconfigured, symbolic of all who pulled away or were forced to pull away from their country of origin and came to our Massachusetts shores to establish themselves in new and different ways.
Annually, the two halves of the Abstract Sculpture are pulled apart by a crane and reconfigured to create a new sculptural shape, symbolic of a new life. “Public Art…permanent and alive,” the Boston Globe wrote.
The much-anticipated Annual Reconfiguration of the Abstract Sculpture is held in April, under the direction of Aurelian Mardiros, A&A Industries, Bill Martin representing the Armenian Heritage Foundation, sponsors of the Park and Don Tellalian, AIA, the park’s architect/designer. A&A Industries, Anahid and Aurelian Mardiros, co-founders, fabricated the Abstract Sculpture, their most generous gift in-kind.
The annually reconfigured Abstract Sculpture sits on the Reflecting Pool. The etched dedication reads, in part, “This sculpture is offered in honor of the one and one-half million victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. May it serve in remembrance of all genocides that have followed and celebrate the diversity of the communities that have re-formed in the safety of these shores.”