Art in the Cemetery

Miriam Perkins, Born Again

Dan Rocha, Laurel Arch

A LOWELL LANDMARK COMES ALIVE


Art in the cemetery?

“That’s odd.” “Why make art in a cemetery?” “That sounds gloomy.”

These are typical responses to the above question but, as it turns out, there is a bit of art history in Lowell Cemetery. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it opened in 1841 and was designed as one of the first garden-style cemeteries. The successful manufacturers of historic Lowell commissioned well-known sculptors to create monuments worthy of an art museum, and in fact, the grounds look like an outdoor sculpture garden.

Feeling its beauty needed to be brought alive, artist Miriam Perkins wrote a grant application to the Lowell Cultural Council and organized a plein air event at the cemetery that took place in May of this year during the spring cemetery tours. The end result of those sessions is the exhibit “Art in the Cemetery,” which was scheduled to be on display in conjunction with the fall tours. The artists involved were able to use the classic art in the cemetery as inspiration.

James Dyment