The Chroma Line: Bridging the Gap

Woman in glasses with her hair pulled back, smiles in her teal button down

Principal

Motor Media, Marketing & Management

Muralist Nick Sullivan; image courtesy of The Chroma Line.

West End House youth collaborating; image courtesy of The Chroma Line.

At the end of 2017, after many months of community listening, project planning, and municipal red tape, lead artist Jillian Wiedenmayer installed her Creative City project, The Chroma Line, a curated art walk across Allston’s Franklin Footbridge, located between Lincoln and Cambridge Streets in Allston, a neigborhood of Boston, MA.

An architect by trade, Wiedenmayer teamed up with community partner Allston Village Main Streets and held community listening sessions in the neighborhood to learn about what art residents might like to see installed on the footbridge, connecting the bridge’s north and south side neighborhoods. Sessions were held at Jackson Mann Community Center, Allston Civic Association, and Brighton Allston Improvement Association, where folks shared their hopes for the project. Some themes from the community input included:

The Chroma Line Across Mass Pike; image courtesy of The Chroma Line.

"Anything that brightens it up, please!"
"I'd like a park or a public space where I can actually feel safe in after dark."

According to Wiedenmayer, the art walk is designed “to evoke emotion and to spark conversation. It embraces the community and marries both sides of the bridge gracefully by creating a new urban texture. The mural layout and color palette masterfully softens and generates a new energy with ever step. It's about bringing people together and connecting them.”

The murals installed on the footbridge include Boston-area street and graffiti artists Genaro Ortega, “Rant,” and Nick Sullivan, as well as teens from West End House, a youth development agency in Allston.