Starting earlier this year, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) has been hosting Bogotá-born and Boston-based artist, Andres Duarte, as our first-ever Mystic River Artist-in-Residence. Andres has been working with MyRWA on helping communities connect with and learn about the Mystic River watershed, making outdoor spaces more accessible and welcoming, and empowering people to work together to protect and restore our natural resources.
Andres beneath the Tobin Bridge in Charlestown - Credit: Isaiah Johnson
During our initial 4-month onboarding process in the spring, Andres found himself drawn to the river herring as a symbol that represents the Mystic River and the 22 communities in the watershed with themes of migration, interconnectedness, and resilience. “We are focusing on the herring fish, and the importance of that fish on the whole ecosystem,” says Duarte. “If we are the fish in our community, we affect…the ecosystem.”
Andres has been working with us on a number of projects as part of the residency. Here’s what we’ve done so far:
River Herring Collaboratory Performance
“It was so interesting [to me] how the herring are doing tricks trying to jump the dams. It’s related to what communities need to do sometimes. We need to cross some sort of challenge in order to get what we want.” - Andres Duarte
Fish on Wheels Performers at Blessing of the Bay Park - Credit: Isaiah Johnson
At MyRWA’s annual Herring Run and Paddle at Blessing of the Bay Park in Somerville, Andres debuted Fish on Wheels, a roller skating performance with handmade costumes representing river herring during their return to the Mystic River every spring. This will be followed up with additional collaboratory performances with artists and performers that continue to follow the lifecycle of river herring.
As part of Fish on Wheels, Andres designed a tape pattern representing river herring that you can still see in front of the Boat House at Blessing of the Bay Park.
Northern Strand Community Trail Mural
Later in the summer, Andres worked with MyRWA, Bike to the Sea, and the City of Everett to paint a mural on the Northern Strand Community Trail along the underpass beneath Route 16 in Everett. The mural features river herring and other wildlife, as well as people of all ages biking and skating, and elements relevant to the City of Everett and the local neighborhood.
“We came with different ideas and inspirations, but in the end, we came back to the fish, and how important migration is to the community,” says Duarte.
MyRWA, City of Everett, and Bike to the Sea staff, community members, and artists Andres and Erre cut the ribbon on a new mural on the Northern Strand Community Trail - Credit: Adam Cort
As part of this project, Bike to the Sea worked with MyRWA, the City of Everett, and Clean Up Everett to organize volunteer events to help prime the wall and pick up trash along the trail. You can see the mural on the stretch of the trail between the Gateway Mall and West & Wellington Plaza/Everett Community Growers Community Farm.
What’s Next
Andres will be working with us until spring of 2026, so there is more in store as part of this program. After the success of Fish on Wheels, we are particularly looking forward to more collaboratory performances, working together with other artists and performers from various interactive media like dance, light projections, and DJ-ing to explore the herring life cycle. We’ll have more to announce in the coming months, so keep an eye on MyRWA’s e-news and social media for more.
If you have ideas for events or places where we might be able to take this program, please reach out to isaiah.johnson@mysticriver.org.
The Mystic River Artist-in-Residence Program is part of the nationwide U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Artist-In-Residence (AIR) Pilot Initiative in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The EPA Artist in Residence Program supports a broad range of local artists and culture bearers in six geographic areas within National Estuary Programs (NEP) and Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) locations, including the Mystic River Watershed Urban Waters Federal Partnership: Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership.
