Somerville celebrates the unveiling of public art installation ‘Letters Rewoven’ (12/02/25)

Article from the Tufts Daily by Amaani Jetley

“Somerville celebrated the unveiling of “Letters Rewoven” on Nov. 8, a new public artwork by local artist Anna Fubini at Lou Ann David Park. The piece was created through the combined efforts of community members, who wrote messages on scraps of paper that were turned into a pulp mixed with wildflower seeds. The mixture was then plastered onto the sculpture’s panels and will eventually grow into flowers. The installation was supported by the Somerville Arts Council and will remain on display until spring 2026.

Fubini frequently works with themes of deconstruction in her works. She told the Daily that she views life as “a constant process of unlearning and questioning why we know the things we know and reexamining them.” For her first large-scale public work, she leaned into this sense of impermanence.

“I kind of completely turned the idea of public art around,” Fubini said. “I don’t need to have it be something that’s going to hold up over time.”

Since the piece would live outdoors, Fubini worked to ensure that “Letters Rewoven” has “not just a net neutral, but potentially [a] net positive” environmental impact.

“I always hate the fact that potentially creating something that has a message about the longevity of society or community is using materials that can be detrimental to that,” she said.

For Fubini, the project was rooted in capturing the voices of Somerville residents.

“From the beginning, it was the idea of … the written words of people being taken and their words becoming material,” she said. “It could be an amalgamation of the voices of the community — [giving them] visual structure.”

She collaborated with Brenda Echeverry, founder of Art & Soul Clinic, to organize the community writing sessions. 

Echeverry described Art & Soul Clinic as a “service that supports the community through spiritual care, emotional care [and] creative care.” She believes that creative health fosters one’s ability to be vulnerable without fear of being shut down.”