“Under 91 Project” Picks Up Steam

In their quest to permanently reclaim a grim concrete canyon that splits the neighborhood in two, Jocelyn Square neighbors are taking to the streets to gather data.

Canvassers fanned out around the Jocelyn Square neighborhood Saturday and Sunday to survey their neighbors about what sort of public art they would like to see in the Humphrey Street underpass.

The weekend effort was part of a push to install a mural that would permanently transform the barren stretch of featureless concrete into an inviting public walkway.

The endeavor is called the Under 91 Project, referring to Interstate 91, which divides East Rock and Upper State Street from Jocelyn Square and Fair Haven. Through the end of this week, project organizers will gather information about what kind of mural neighbors would like. (Take a survey here to add your voice.) Organizers will then synthesize the information into a public call for artists, to find the right muralist for the project.

Ideally, the Humphrey Street underpass will be home to a beautiful new artwork, paid for with crowdsourced donations, by this summer, said East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes, part of Under 91.

The Under 91 Project stems from the Inside Out project, which in 2012 pasted enormous black and white portraits along the walls of the Humphrey Street underpass as well as the State Street underpass near Trumbull Street. That temporary, crowdsourced art project had the same mission as Under 91: to reclaim the uninviting concrete passageways as neighborhood connectors, rather than dividers.

When the Inside Out project was hit by graffiti taggers, it prompted a heated debate about public art, inclusion and exclusion, and who can speak for a community. Some people complained about the process of creating Inside Out, claiming that it was an expression of the ​“dominant power” and that the graffiti tags represented a more authentic community voice. Organizers countered that they had done extensive outreach and included a wide cross-section of people in the creation of the photo exhibit.

Unlike Inside Out, the Under 91 Project aims to create a permanent artwork. That quest begins with gathering input about what the art should be. The discussion has already begun at the group’s Facebook page, which features links to a couple of innovative underpass art projects in other cities. In Boston, light artists lit up an underpass with projections (pictured).

In Birmingham, artist Bill FitzGibbons used colored lights to transform a dark underpass into a rainbow vortex (pictured).

Holmes said a couple of artists have already sent in proposals.

While the Facebook discussion continues, and an online survey has been circulating, Holmes said the weekend canvassing efforts were intended to reach people who aren’t already in social media networks. Holmes said about 20 canvassers met on Saturday and Sunday to take surveys door to door.

“We want to make sure we take the time to include votes from the community,” Holmes said.

The next challenge will be how to take all of the input and share it in a useful way with potential artists, she said. Other challenges will be raising money and figuring out how to involve neighbors in the actual installation of the mural.

If Under 91 is successful with the Humphrey Street underpass, it may move on to tackle other dark and forbidding underpasses nearby.