On a recent evening, artist Sophy Tuttle meets me in the parking lot in Medford. It’s not quite dusk, but the ominous gray clouds make it feel much later. Tuttle wants to show me three of her newest mini-murals painted on electrical boxes here before we start our short jaunt to see the other seven. In the grass lining the lot’s edge, an electrical box is covered with a patch of red wild mushrooms. A blue belted kingfisher is set against a rich forest green background. Surrounding Medford Square, the Medford-based artist's latest installation, titled "Electrical Box Landscapes," depicts native and invasive flora and fauna that populate the nearby Mystic River ecosystem.
Each painting features a haiku from poet Gary Roberts. One box shows a great horned owl with blue flag iris flowers on an orange background; another illustrates an ornate dragonfly holding onto a branch near yellow oyster mushrooms. There's a monarch butterfly atop milkweed and an endangered New England cottontail rabbit (not the ones we find in our gardens, which are usually eastern cottontails) with dark berries. Her painting of a blue heron and water lily is one of Tuttle’s favorites. This work sits close to the sidewalk’s edge and gets nicked by car doors. Read more.
Medford's Electrical Boxes Are Now Covered With Plants And Animals Of The Mystic River Watershed