By Sean Sullivan

It seems a summer of seeking refuge.

June meant refuge from the rain, and July from the heat. That was weather, then there was the weird. Smoke migrated south from burning forests in Canada, creating acute air quality conditions that rivaled the world’s worst.

In such times, setting aside or finding affirmative sanctuaries is a good strategy for somewhat balancing the scales. That’s been one aim of Natick’s “outdoor reading rooms” this summer. 

The project is in part a nod to the Morse Institute Library’s 150th anniversary, which the community is currently celebrating.

Natick has long been a faithful patron of local art, said Jane Ellen Newman, but the library sought with this project to branch out a bit beyond the town’s borders. She is Community Relations Coordinator for the Morse Institute Library, and worked to bring the project to fruition. 

Funding ($10,000) came from a grant provided by the New England Foundation for the Arts, part of the “Making it Public” art initiative. That gift was matched by Natick’s Cognex Corporation. 

“The grant opportunity was really great,” said Newman. 

Natick commissioned three installations in the town, imagined, designed and built by local creatives. The aim was that each “encourages people to gather and read a book,” said Newman.

“Summer reading is really a staple for public libraries. It’s really a collaboration.”

To that end, students of Framingham’s Keefe Technical School were chosen as one group of creatives charged with bringing an outdoor reading room to life. Theirs is entitled “POP!” and is located on the grounds of Natick’s Cole Center. Graphic novels and the “limitlessness of space” inspired the room, and is the work of Keefe Tech students involved in design and communications, carpentry and metal fabrication studies.

Located on the lawn of the Morse Institute Library itself is “Under the Trees,” a reading room created by artist Paul Belenky. His is a nature-themed cubicle beneath the shade of boughs, carved stumps serving as seats, its “walls” comprised of overlarge artificial leaves.

Natick’s Deborah Tuck Wirtz created the third reading room, entitled “Empower,” and featuring statements, quotes and missives from community members. The installation’s centerpiece is a giant open book whose surface is made of astroturf, an apt homage to outdoor reading.   

“This program allowed us to see how art can be expanded,” said Newman. She and the Morse Institute Library partnered with Natick’s sustainability office, headed by Jillian Wilson-Martin, to make the project happen. Natick’s Recreation and Parks Department was also integral to the undertaking, as the installations were cited on town property.   

The theme, or prompt, given to creators of each outdoor reading room, was to “find your voice.”

“Reading is really a great way of finding that,” said Newman. “We are all charged with finding our voice.”