Memorial Square dedicated to Powell

[Anthony D'Isidoro]

Memorial Square dedicated to Powell (Mary Ellen Gambon, The Bulletin: October 7, 2021)

Artist John W. Powell was a beacon for Allston and beyond. Whether it was through his public art exhibits using light or working in the pollinator garden at the Everett Embankment, his vision was to make the community more vibrant and welcoming. 

On Saturday, Oct. 2 officials dedicated a memorial square in Powell’s honor at the pollinator garden also being named for him. Located at the intersection of Lincoln and Everett streets, the array of flowers spanned Everett Street and attracted more than 40 people as well as bees and butterflies. 

Powell was noted for creating artwork that integrated light with metal. Some of his local works were projected onto bridges and buildings in Boston and Cambridge. Over the course of his career, Powell received worldwide recognition for his creations. 

“It occurred to me that John himself was a pollinator,” said Catherine Kernan, his partner. “He had a passion for connecting people and bringing ideas together and following through on them.” 

“What could have been another derelict and wasted space is now an oasis for bees and people,” added Powell’s grandson, Nico, before he accepted a copy of the street sign in his honor. 

“Naming the John W. Powell Memorial Square at the pollinator garden is a wonderful honor for John,” said state Rep. Kevin Honan, a friend of the artist, who died on Feb. 11. “Every time I came by to volunteer with the wonderful team that is monitoring and grooming this garden, John was there taking care of it.” 

Honan added that in addition to being a member of Pollinator Networks, Powell was a talented artist and “a very committed and dedicated community activist” who attended many neighborhood meetings in Allston, particularly on development. 

“He brought his wonderful knowledge on how to beautify a structure with light,” he added. 

“I worked closely with John Powell, specifically on a public art display at the Allston Village Main Streets office using light and metal,” said Conor Newman, the Allston-Brighton liaison from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services (ONS). This is a great opportunity to recognize his good work.” 

Miriam Shenitzer of Pollinator Networks advocated for naming the garden after Powell. Although he didn’t live to see it in full bloom, she said Powell was instrumental in the planning process. 

“He was so much a part of the fabric of lower Allston,” she said. “He came to really represent the people of Allston. He was the real deal.” 

Shenitzer said she met Powell when she came to the area in 1988, and he became her mentor in public art. 

“Our common denominator was our commitment to the community: people of color, people who spoke different languages and people with little money,” she said, noting that the pollinator garden signs are in five languages. 

She added that Powell “tried to do a lot of arts in neighborhoods that didn’t have a lot.” One example was when he bought a derelict corner market in Collins Square and turned it into his home and studio. He renovated many of the surrounding buildings, turning them into artist studios. It blossomed into “an artist enclave” around Collins Square Park, which he maintained. 

Shenitzer and Powell originally applied to construct an art exhibit here using Powell’s creations with light. When that project was denied, she said she saw an article written in the Netherlands about pollinator gardens and decided to create one on the embankment. It was funded by the Harvard Allston Public Realm Flexible Fund via the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA). 

The pair co-designed the garden’s metal icons, which she said sought to “mark every garden for the people and map it, just like the flowers did for the bees." 

Powell and Shenitzer worked together to create a network of pollinator gardens in Allston. Sites include the McNamara House, the pollinator garden at the Herter Community Garden, the raised bed gardens at the Charlesview Residences, and planters in Union Square and at the Continuum apartment complex. 

“We were trying to make them the norm,” Shenitzer explained, noting the area had once been noted for its florist community.

Anthony D’Isidoro, the president of the Allston Civic Association (ACA), said he was thrilled by the high turnout. He also thanked Shenitzer and her colleague at Pollinator Networks, Beth Fried, for their hard work alongside Powell. 

“He always had time for you,” he said, calling Powell his mentor at the ACA. “We always had great conversations about just about anything.” 

D’Isidoro noted that, with all of the recent construction in Allston-Brighton, people sometimes forget that design is critical to shaping a community. 

This is one way in which Powell enriched the community. District 9 City Councilor Liz Breadon called the garden “an act of love.” 

“This is an amazing tribute to John and a wonderful recognition of his long-term work and his long-term influence in the community,” she noted.