Shore Line Recall: Boston Harbor Islands
by Freedom Baird
Shore Line Recall presents a moving collection of photographs, writings, and drawings of the Boston Harbor Islands contributed by artist Freedom Baird and by visitors to the islands during her artist residency, summer 2018. As a way of adapting to rising seas, Baird has assembled a community’s impressions, experiences, and memories of these storied but vulnerable islands. Included are seventy-five fine-art photographs juxtaposed with topographic maps, hand-drawn illustrations, and contributors’ texts in this beautifully designed book.
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FORMATS: Paperback and ebook
RIGHTS: Available worldwide as a Creative Commons publication
PAGES: 176
ILLUSTRATIONS: 75 full-color photographs, 10 topographic maps, 15 line drawings
PUBLISHED: December 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7330878-6-5
ASIN: B081ZQGBCK
The Shore Line Recall artist residency was organized and sponsored by Boston Harbor [Re]creation—a project of Boston Harbor Now, and also by Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the National Park Service.”
In her preface Baird explains the origins of the art project —
“During the winter of 2018 I thought about how, on these old drumlins, any given site has meaning deeply personal to those who come to stand there. I thought about how, as an artist, I might be able to help the Greater Boston community adapt to the erosion of the islands by providing an opportunity to gather and save impressions, experiences, and recollections of these places that will eventually be long gone.”
Net proceeds generated by book sales will be donated to the Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park
From the back cover:
“THERE WERE blackberries on a hilltop, a skinny doe and her two fawns, a glossy ibis, and an octopus. There were also teens with a shotgun, bootleg baseball, missiles on a launch pad, and a children’s hospital on fire.
These are among the memories, experiences and impressions gathered from more than seventy participants in the Shore Line Recall art project during the summer of 2018 on the Boston Harbor Islands.
Artist Freedom Baird brought a vintage field desk to nine islands and a boat, and placed it in the most vulnerable spot she could reach, at high tide. In those windswept places she talked with visitors, staff, and volunteers, gathering their stories and drawings to preserve and share in this book. She also documented the islands in photographs, a collection of which she has curated into these pages.
As we continue to transform the planet, one way we can adapt is with a kind of future nostalgia—looking forward to a moment when we will look back and remember places that will someday be long gone.”
