Few people seem to know, except those who may have caught the Boston Globe Magazine’s November 29, 2009 feature, that among our residents is a world famous artist whose work is perfectly suited to celebrate the new Alewife Brook Greenway multi-use trail being built this year. Rufus Butler Seder is a scanimation artist who creates LIFETILES, optically animated murals, that appear to come to life and move as you walk, run, or ride past. Arlington parents may already be familiar with Seder’s work from his New York Times bestselling children’s books, “Gallop”, “Swing” and “Waddle”. We have the opportunity for Seder to reflect the pedestrian, bike-friendly, kid-friendly, and nature-friendly, character of Arlington, by creating a moving picture mural that includes bikers, parents with strollers, joggers, Alewife fish and other emblematic elements. What an eye-catching, wonderful way to build  Arlington’s  cultural identity while celebrating the work of one of our resident artists.

The Arlington Heights Bus Depot mural funded in part by the Arlington Cultural Council and completed in October 2009 was extremely well-received by residents and also received a Gold Star Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Having a significant work of public art in East Arlington would be fitting for the artsy character of East Arlington and serve as a crowning landmark for all of its developments: including the Mass Ave project, the Alewife Greenway, and the Battle Road Scenic Byways project.

Rufus Butler Seder’s maintenance-free LIFETILES murals have been installed at numerous locations around the world including Washington D.C. ’s Union Station, Sea World in Orlando , Taiwan National Marine Biology Aquarium, The Scientific Center in Kuwait, and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon NH . Currently he is working on installations for the Polish Science Museum and the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Shouldn’t Arlington, MA be on this cultural map? Public art displays such as these have been featured in various art books and tourist guides and serve to elevate and broaden a community’s cultural appeal.

With your help, Arlington will be in very good company with similar projects around the world. Please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J9nNpj6X3U and http://www.eyethinkinc.com/lifetiles/index.html to see examples of Seder’s work.

The effort to coordinate and fundraise for this project is being headed by Arlington residents, Stephanie Marlin-Curiel, who volunteers with East Arlington Liveable Streets and serves on the Arlington Cultural Council, and Kurt Fusaris, former Arlington speech therapist and science teacher, and former candidate for Arlington School Committee.  Contact Stephanie or Kurt at smc2149@nyu.edu or speechman74@yahoo.com to get involved in this great community project.