Exhibition: February 25 – May 30, 2008
Reception: Monday, May 19, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Cambridge, MA – Dive into the CAC Gallery, and see a work of art evolve before your eyes. From February 25th to May 30th, 2008, the exhibition Anxiety of Beauty – Revisiting the Fountain of Youth transforms the CAC Gallery into the painting studio of artist Mela Lyman. Throughout this three-month exhibition, visitors will have the unique opportunity to witness the development of this large-scale mural that the artist will be re-creating for Paine Park (St. Mary Road, a few blocks from the Gallery). The Artist Reception will take place towards the end of the exhibition when the mural is completed, Monday, May 19, 5:30-7:30pm. Gallery events are free and open to the public.

Known for her paintings of swimmers, among other subjects, Mela Lyman’s most recognized public artwork is her painted circular frieze depicting swimmers, “Transported,” at the Water Shuttle Terminal at Logan International Airport in Boston. Returning to this signature theme, she resurfaces with a new vision for the Paine Park mural commissioned by the Cambridge Arts Council’s Public Art Program in 2001. The exhibition, Anxiety of Beauty – Revisiting the Fountain of Youth, demonstrates that an artist’s approach and response to a site and subject is specific to time and place, and given the opportunity, continues to develop.

For the Paine Park mural, completed in 2002, Lyman worked with young children of the neighborhood, and incorporated their drawings into a “euphoric landscape,” physically attaching the drawings to the mural. Subsequent deterioration of the drawings and fading of colors has led the artist to re-imagine her mural anew. Sections of the mural will be displayed in the Gallery during the exhibition.

Anxiety of Beauty – Revisiting the Fountain of Youth offers a unique opportunity to expand one’s understanding of the process, the inspiration, and the creative context of making public artwork. Repeat visits to the Gallery will offer different experiences over the course of this three-month exhibition.

The mural can be viewed at all stages of development during gallery hours. To find out the times that Mela Lyman will be painting in the gallery, please call Cambridge Arts Council at 617-349-4380.

Family Programs and Events
Throughout the exhibition, CAC will host activities and programs for children and adults. Events include children’s storytime with a librarian from Cambridge Public Library’s main branch, Thursdays, April 3 through May 22 at 3:30pm. Events are free.

Picnic at the CAC Gallery
Enjoy your lunch in the gallery! Bright colors, park benches and tables bring the outdoors inside. Pack a picnic, and see this mural develop. All are welcome!

Mela Lyman’s work has been featured in numerous museums and galleries nationally, and has been reviewed in ARTFORUM, Art New England, and New Art Examiner, among other magazines and newspapers. She received her fine art degree from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where she is currently a professor. In addition to the Paine Park Mural in Cambridge, MA (2002), her public arts commissions include a painted interior frieze, Water Shuttle Terminal, Logan International Airport, Boston (1994) and Simpkin Swim Center, County of Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA. (2002).

CAC Gallery exhibitions are free and open to the public.
For more information please call the Cambridge Arts Council at (617) 349-4380.

The CAC Gallery is located in the Cambridge City Hall Annex at 344 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Inman Street. Metered parking is available on Inman Street and Broadway.

Directions via MBTA: Take the MBTA Red Line to Central Square. At street level proceed west on Massachusetts Avenue (towards Harvard Square) to Inman Street. Turn right and proceed north for four blocks to Broadway.

CAC Gallery hours:
M, W: 8:30 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
T, TH: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
F: 8:30 a.m. - noon

Cambridge Arts Council Public Art Program
Public artworks commissioned by the Cambridge Arts Council’s Public Art Program are done so in accordance with the city's Percent for Art Program, which mandates that one percent of construction costs for capital improvement projects is designated to support the inclusion of integrated, site-responsive public art. Over 150 artworks have been commissioned into the Cambridge Public Art Collection for the enjoyment of all who live, work, and visit the city.

Cambridge Arts Council Mission Statement
The Cambridge Arts Council exists to ensure that the arts remain vital for people living, working and visiting Cambridge. www.cambridgeartscouncil.org or 617-349-4380.

The Cambridge Arts Council does not discriminate on the basis of disability. The CAC will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternate formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to persons with disabilities upon request.