Lowell – On a sunny day in May 2023, Kamil Peters and a few colleagues met at the intersection of Gorham and Appleton Streets to install “Black Joy,” one of the newest examples of public art found in downtown Lowell, MA. 

Peters works out of a gallery in Western Massachusetts, the medium metal and reclaimed wood Gallery — Kamil Peters @ Building 121. “Black Joy” is sculpted in metal and resembles the hull of a ship with towering rebar flowers emerging from the base. 

The theme and concept design for Black Joy was developed almost two years ago at a community meeting guided by Peters and facilitated by Do-it-Yourself Lowell (DIY Lowell), in partnership with Mosaic Lowell, New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), Mass Cultural Council and the Lowell Cultural Council. From there, a committee comprised of six African American Lowellians was formed to help commission the sculpture. One of the goals of Mosaic Lowell, and one of the driving forces behind the commission of this sculpture, is to position arts and culture as a highly valued, integral building block in Lowell, as well as a way to engage the community and youth with arts and culture.

According to Director Jessica O’Hearn, “We are proud to have supported the DIY Lowell Community Sculpture Vision Team, who were the driving force behind ‘Black Joy.’ This is what is possible when you engage community members in visioning public art that represents their culture and their experiences and have a talented artist who can bring it to life.”

The committee–teenagers to elders–provided input regarding location, theme, and significance to the community. Commenting on the process, Peters had this to say, “The beauty of this process was creating the sculpture based on the ideas of the committee. ‘Black Joy’ gives a voice to the people of Lowell and that is really beautiful.”   

Peters gifted “Black Joy” to the City of Lowell in March 2023, explaining the symbolism of the sculpture, “It all began with the middle passage. They weren’t taking willing cotton pickers. They were taking doctors, lawyers, great thinkers, mathematicians, queens, and kings. That is our legacy. The metal flowers are native to Africa. They represent the ancestors, frozen in steel. The hull of the ship is a planter, full of dirt. Live vines grow out and cling to these flowers. Those represent the African Americans…growing and flourishing because of the ancestors’ existence, and what they have been through to create this opportunity for us to exist.”  

The neighborhood location is significant to the Black community. Gorham, Appleton and Central Streets mark the location which is home to Black-owned and -managed businesses since the founding of Lowell. Committee member Mona Tyree, who also serves on the board of the Afro-American Community Collaborative (AACC) has this to say about the area in and around the South Common, “This is where people would gather for cookouts, picnics, baseball and basketball games. Families were connected and have remained connected through these events for many years. It has been a pleasure working with Kamil and DIY Lowell on the vision of this sculpture and the importance it holds for the Black community.” 

While in the early stages, this area is slated for redevelopment in the coming years. According to DPD Director and Assistant City Manager, Yovani Baez-Rose, “Our hopes are to improve the safety of the intersection for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians as well as improvements to the city-owned parking lot at the corner. DPD hopes improvements will include new lane configuration, a new traffic signal, and physical improvements, including landscaping and the removal of some of the existing hard scape to introduce new green space.”  

City Manager Thomas A. Golden, Jr. remarks, “This is the second public art installation in downtown Lowell in the past few months the first being the ‘Night Watch Woman’ at the Riverwalk Footbridge). The City of Lowell looks forward to expanding our public art collection, while working in partnership with organizations aiming to bring more opportunities for art into the city.” 

One of the special aspects of “Black Joy” is its place on the newly installed Lowell Black History Trail. The Black History Trail memorializes eleven sites with significance to the Black community and can be found throughout the downtown area.   

A formal unveiling ceremony has been planned for Saturday, July 15^th 12-2pm at the location of the “Black Joy” sculpture. The community is invited to attend and all are welcome to enjoy food and entertainment, as well as a symbolic planting ceremony.  

A video interview with the artist has been shared to the City of Lowell website: https://youtu.be/oW0cxJ5uOoc