The Natick Historical Society is excited to celebrate LOVE 01760, a community-wide public art project. NHS reached out to the organizers of this wonderful project, including Athena Pandolf, Executive Director of the Natick Center Cultural District, and Denise Girardin, a Natick artist, who shared some details about the project’s origins and their thoughts on it so far.

The LOVE 01760 project was created by a small group of business owners, artists, and the Natick Cultural Center District. They all wanted to offer people an opportunity to be involved in a public display of support and comfort in the new COVID-19 world we are living in. Organizers felt strongly that the project had to be one that anyone could do without needing special skills while also benefiting and showing great love for the Natick community.

The project asked people to design two halves of one heart, with the promise of connecting the heart halves together in a future public art project. The goal was for people to use what they had at home, print out a heart, design one half, and share, safely, with a family member or with a neighbor who could decorate the other half. Participants were asked to drop off their completed hearts when finished (before June 1).

Denise told the Natick Historical Society that at the beginning of the project, her focus was on the end game: how many “connected” hearts could be acquired, how they would be put together, what would the final art installation look like, and so on. However, she quickly learned that creating the hearts was “very therapeutic” and emotional for everyone involved. Denise shared that the organizers have received many notes with the heart halves, which are “so touching and full of love.”

Athena added, “Each heart is a kaleidoscope of distinctively different human stories. Some were vibrantly painted, some thoughtfully drawn, some created as bright collages or stamps, some conveying words of encouragement, and some speaking without words. Each heart is a handcrafted message of uniqueness and love created by many hands of all ages.”

The LOVE 01760 art project has continued to grow. You can buy a t-shirt displaying the LOVE 01760 logo! All proceeds from the sales support the Natick Service Council. And BIG news: mark your calendars for July 16th to August 9th, when you’ll be able to see the hearts on display over the pedestrian bridge in Natick Center!

As the LOVE 01760 project comes to an end, Athena reflects that it has already taken hold of their hearts “as if it has always been a part of us. And it has. It is a part of ALL of us. LOVE is always present […]”. Socially apart but united together in Love is what these crafted hearts convey. Love for one another, love for our community, and love for the world. That is why the LOVE 01760 project was created and why every zip code has the opportunity to become a harbor of love”.

The Natick Historical Society is honored that a small collection of heart halves will be archived through the Natick Shares: A COVID-19 Community Archive Project when the installation is complete. Many years from now, future Natick residents will have the chance to learn how our community responded to COVID-19 with LOVE 01760.

If you want to see the many hearts the community has created, visit the LOVE 01760 Facebook page HERE.