Art

Item Description

Penelope the Bunny is nestled into her new home on the corner of High St. and Eastern Ave. The rabbit will remain there until she is auctioned off at our Fall Casino Night on Saturday November 17. Her quickly growing community of fans can even follow "Miss Penelope the Bunny", so named by Karyn Alzayer, the artist who painted her, on the rabbit's own Instagram account: misspenelope.the.bunny.

Overseen by the Reynolds Center's Paul Reynolds and Dedham Square Artist Guild's Kerry Hawkins, the project was launched to help celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Mother Brook Arts & Community Center. Dedham Savings generously supported the project, which helped defray costs of the sculpture form, shipping from Chicago, and the artist's stipend.

In 2012, The Dedham Public Art Project was launched to bring fifteen crouching rabbit sculptures to Dedham. The rabbit design was chosen as a nod to the historic Dedham Pottery, which was produced in Dedham over 100 years ago. The pottery was characterized by a signature crackle glaze and border designs in thick cobalt blue. The most common and recognizable design is a repeating crouching rabbit officially referred to as the "Dedham Rabbit."

Those original fifteen rabbits were painted and placed across Dedham in high visibility locations, including parks, public spaces, and outdoor retail areas. Each sculpture was painted by a juried selection of local artists – and sponsored by local businesses, individuals and organizations. About 50,000 dollars was raised by auctioning off the rabbits to support the arts in Dedham, including the then newly launched Mother Brook Arts & Community Center in 2013.

Dedham Public Arts founder Paul Reynolds explains, "As we help celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Mother Brook Arts & Community Center, we are also bringing attention to the power of public art to provide everyone in the community direct and ongoing encounters with art."

Earlier this year, the rabbit form was shipped in from Cowpainters in Chicago, and a juried selection process began to choose an artist to paint the sculpture. Submissions from artists were solicited in early June, and a panel of judges reviewed and selected the winning design by Everett-based artist Karyn Alzayer.

The judging panel featured artists Sue Hoy, Lisa W. B. Walker, Cat Ciccolo Tucker, and Dedham Civic Pride's Janet Holmes. The judges were won over by Alzayer's "experience with public art, her prolific body of work, demonstrated craftsmanship, and portfolio of award-winning designs."

Alzayer's winning design features a solid blue background with bright orange henna-style mandalas stretching out across the rabbit's body. Fine detail in a deep shade of purple was then applied with a traditional henna cone to overlay the other layers. Alzayer spent about 60 hours of painting, and 10 hours doing the purple henna application over 39 days.

While it was clearly a daunting amount work, Alzayer has nothing but gratitude for taking on the project. She explains, "It was so fun to be a part of this project. From day one, this bunny came alive to me, and I knew it would be a joy to decorate her and have her be a part of my life. So many people have wandered into The Gallery in Malden[where the rabbit was painted] to ask about Penelope, ask about my process, and share their own stories about community art. This is what the arts do for communities. They welcome people in, they facilitate conversations, and they brighten neighborhoods. It's been so lovely to work with both of these great arts organizations!"

Alzayer's contribution to the Dedham Public Art Project is not her first foray into public art. In 2016, Alzayer was one of 60 local artists chose for the 2016 Street Pianos of Boston program, which transformed decommissioned pianos with artist-painted designs, then emblazoned with the words "Play me, I'm yours," and placed all over the city for anyone to play.

Along with being an elementary school music educator, Alzayer is a fully insured henna artist who has been practicing henna throughout the Greater Boston. With music education degrees from Otterbein and Boston University, Alzayer was eventually also drawn to the visual arts with a fascination for henna designs, which is a traditional form of body art using plant-based dye that has been used for thousands of years dating back to the ancient Egyptians.

To protect Alzayer's intricate painting design, the Dedham Public Art Project turned to local automotive legend Ernie Boch and his team at Subaru of New England for help. They happily offered a free clear coating at Boch Collision Center in Norwood. As it turns out Boch and his colleagues are huge fans of public art including @MusicDrivesUs. GuitARTS in Norwood. 

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This item will move to live bidding at 7 pm on 11/17