Cover Story

Signs of the times

19 local artists offer hope in Worcester’s ‘Give Me A Sign’ project

RICHARD DUCKETT

The signs are everywhere.

Well, if not quite everywhere, there are now numerous new street signs across Worcester with such encouraging messages as “Thank You For Being Yourself, “Call Your Loved Ones, “The Woo Loves You,” “Better Days Are Ahead” and “Your Work Is Not Your Worth.” 140 street signs have been or are being put up as part of Worcester’s “Give Me A Sign” project featuring public works of art by 19 local artists.

The project is a partnership with the City of Worcester Cultural Development Division, the Worcester Cultural Coalition and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, and seeks to provide visual encouragement throughout Worcester on 12-inch-by-18-inch metal signs, with select works also on digital billboards around Worcester.

“One thing I really like about public art — you might hit someone who really needs that message but wasn’t going to see it,” said Worcester artist Pam Stolz.

One of her signs with the message “Your Work Is Not Your Worth” is downtown outside The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts.

“So many people have lost work. You have value regardless of your work. Everything has value. I do hope it makes people think about where their true value comes from,” Stolz said of the sign.

The project came in response to the coronavirus, and the initial call for artists went out in May. The idea was to give people a lift with some encouraging messages.

“It was a diverse group of artists that submitted their work, which we were excited by. Even a 12-year-old, which was really great,” said Erin Williams, Worcester’s Cultural Development Officer.

The sign designs were diverse as well, she said. Some were funny, as in “No Bad Day No Way,” while some were very artistic. “There were some strong statements. Some are in multiple languages,” Williams said.

Che Anderson, the city’s deputy director of cultural development, said 19 artists were chosen out of nearly 50 who submitted proposals. Artists sometimes had more than one design. The same sign may appear in different parts of the city. Artists represented in “Give Me A Sign” are: Stolz, Susan Champeny, Therrious Davis, Shaka Dendy, Alex Ferror, Ryan Flynn, Hal Goucher, Free Humanity, Eric Karbelling, Kevin La, Justin LeClair, Marybeth Lensel, Christopher Michelotti, Jason Naylor, Dave “Croc” O’Connor, Nina Palomba, Ego Proof, Khizra Syeda and

Ryan Flynn, 12, by his sign at Quinsigamond State Park. Ryan’s drawing was chosen for the Give Me A Sign project, which is putting up signs with hopeful messages around the city during the pandemic.

ASHLEY GREEN

Mathew Zaremba.

“I love it. I feel like these are trying times for everyone. It’s a way to invite artists in the community,” Stolz said of the project. She has shown work in several exhibitions in New York, Massachusetts and South Dakota, and was a member of the Pittsburgh Art House during the summer of 2011.

She noted that she applied to the project before George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by a police officer kneeling on his neck May 25. As protests immediately followed, Stolz said she wanted to make a second design for the “Give Me A Sign” project in support and was told she could. Her sign “Stand Up For Racial Justice” has an outline of protesters in the background

Williams and Anderson said they noticed several artists who wanted to address racial injustice as well as COVID-19. That was fine.

“I saw all the images. This is a moment in time when we have multiple pandemics if you think about it. Right in Worcester we are addressing racial justice,” Williams said.

Two of Kevin La’s signs are “Thank You For Being Yourself ” at the top of Belmont Street and “Let In Love! Let’s Live!” on Green Street.

La, a freelance graphic designer in Worcester, said “Thank You For Being Yourself ” is intended to encourage people in the pandemic. Also, “How being a unique person in Worcester lets Worcester collectively be itself. That’s the unique thing about Worcester, when everyone works together it becomes a beautiful thing,” he said.

“Let In Love! Let’s Live!” is a positive multi-cultural message with the words also written in Spanish and Vietnamese.

“I thought it was a really great concept,” La said about the project. “A bit of a street style and something for people to walk around and look upon, and I was highly honored to do a couple of signs.”

La was born in Worcester, while his parents are originally from Vietnam. “They’re doing all right. They’re adapting. We have a great multi-racial community,” La said.

He graduated from Assumption College in 2019 with a major in marketing and a minor in graphic design. In 2017 he was the young

Above, Khizra Sayeda sits next to her sign outside the Worcester Youth Center.

ASHLEY GREEN Opposite page, Kevin La created a sign on Green Street for the Give Me A Sign project.

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est member of the POW! WOW! Worcester committee that brought street art in the form of murals (and more) to the city.

“To see the beauty of how people in Worcester come together and change the city itself, it’s a great experience. It’s a great way branch out,” he said of his experiences with POW! WOW! Worcester and now “Give Me A Sign.”

Seeing his signs in person and also on social media has been “a great feeling,” he said. “It’s a very good reaction. People love it. It’s the first time I’ve had my parents proud of my work incorporating Vietnamese in my work. One of my greatest moments is having my parents approval.”

Like Stolz, he wants the signs to to engage passers-by. “Hopefully someone sees it and gets uplifted and it has some impact on some- one. That’s the best thing, to change someone’s life,” La said.

Artist Khizra Syeda of Milford decorates her signs with messages that include “Call Your Loved Ones” with paintings of sunflowers. That

includes a sign supporting Black Lives Matter. Sunflowers symbol- ize “getting through tough times together,” Syeda said.

She’s working on getting estab- lished as an artist after graduating from UMass Boston in 2018 with a degree in environmental science. “With the quarantines I’ve had the chance and inspiration to take it seriously,” she said of her art work. She was offered a commission as an artist by the Massachusetts As- sociation of Conservation Commis- sions where she had been working as an intern.

“I thought it was a really good opportunity,” she said of the “Give Me A Sign” project. “I didn’t think I would get the chance, but I feel really happy. When I was making this I wanted to make a design that would help someone feeling down. We will make it through. That’s what’s happening.”

Ryan Flynn of Shrewsbury said, “I thought I’d take a chance” and apply for the project after he heard about it, “even though there are art- ists that have more experience.”

Ryan, 12, is a student at Oak Middle School in Shrewsbury. “I like drawing a lot,” he said.

His sign has cheery drawn and colored images that include a Smiley Face holding a baseball bat, a Polar Beverages bottle, and a train and Union Station with the message “The Woo Loves (depicted by the drawing of a heart ) You.”

“I decided to draw positive ob- jects that represent Worcester. Even though times are tough, people need to remember the good times in the pandemic, so that’s what I try to do,” Ryan said.

When Ryan found out his sign had been accepted in the “Give me A Sign” project, “I was so excited. I was surprised because I was younger,” he said.

“Ryan said, ‘You know what, I’ll try it,’ “ said his mother, Patricia Flynn. “It was a learning experience to take a chance. It’s opened some doors that he’s excited about.”

All in all, the signs have been good.

“It’s been really well-received,” said Anderson. All 140 signs were expected to be up by the end of August.

“People walk by and take a photo and say ‘I need an uplift,’ so that’s been sort of cool,” Anderson said.

“The response has been very good,” said Williams. “I’ve seen people stopped in their tracks. It really resonated that this is a com-

Signs by Khirza Sayeda, top, and Kevin La.

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munity event.”

She said that the project “is not just a one off.” There will be related activities, perhaps including a scavenger hunt.

“When I see ‘Better Days Are Ahead’ that gives me a smile,” Wil- liams said. “And reassures me me that, yes, we’ll come through this stronger.”