Public art piece on Tremont Street, December 2014

Public art piece on Tremont Street, December 2014. Photo credit: Courtesy of Jessica Burko

A local Jamaica Plain artist and political activist created a very powerful piece of public art recently outside of Boston Police Headquarters on Tremont Street. It was a political commentary on the number of children killed by guns on a daily basis.

She represented each child with a handmade child-sized chair, there were 75 in all, and attached them to the long chain-link fence across the street from Police Headquarters. Unfortunately the project was too strong of a message for some, and was removed within a couple of hours. Here is the artist’s statement about the project:

"These chairs were made to reflect the important place children hold in the community. The colors represent the diversity of their backgrounds… some are descendants of those who first lived on this land, others are offspring of parents who came to America from around the world. The chairs, clustered by color, are set as if the children were in school preparing for the future. The 8 red chairs and 24 white chairs represent the dangers they face. In this case it is the number of children killed (8) or wounded (24) by guns each day. As adults we occupy the role of guardians for the children. We know the dangers. We are responsible for their protection.”

Keep your eyes out for a second version of this public art piece next week.

[Editor's note: Burko said the artist wishes to remain anonymous.]