A Home for Future Generations
I am honored to collaborate with my fellow Brazilian artist Raquel Fornasaro on creating a public artwork responding to the theme of sustainability.
Funded by the sponsors of Mass Save through a Community Education Grant, the City of Framingham and the Town of Natick have invited us to design and lead two complementary, participatory public art projects (one in Framingham and one in Natick) that connect with the theme of Our Energy Future. Our Energy Future is about the role each of us plays in achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in our homes and buildings. This participatory public art project will amplify the importance of collective action towards a more sustainable future.
A Home for Our Future Generations uses creativity to spark environmental awareness through two home-shaped public installations in Natick and Framingham that invite people to approach sustainability as an attainable goal.
Two 8×8 ft walls hold interior murals on energy conservation, while the exterior becomes a community-made mosaic of painted shingles created in twenty workshops across Framingham and Natick. The shingle wall mosaic features data exemplifying an “Energy Conservation Journey.” The project addresses energy conservation steps in a home, such as installing insulation, window upgrades, heat pumps, efficient appliances, and solar energy to lower carbon emissions. An AR component connects viewers to incentives and expert guidance, empowering and encouraging community action toward a sustainable future.
Thank you to our sponsors!
artist team
Photo by Dana J. Quigley
Shachmut Photography
Julia Csekö and Raquel Fornasaro are Brazilian-American visual artists and educators committed to socially engaged, community-centered public art that bridges aesthetics, education, and participation. Both are award-winning professionals with extensive exhibition histories in galleries, museums, and public spaces. Csekö brings deep public art experience, including her 2024 Salem Public Artist in Residence role, and several completed commissions, with large-scale murals currently on view in Boston and Jamaica Plain. Her work often highlights language, democratic participation, and co-creation. Fornasaro’s multidisciplinary practice integrates storytelling, ecological consciousness, and community engagement, including a painted piano for Newton’s Artful Pianos and a heart sculpture for Framingham’s Many Cultures, One Heart, both on view. Together, they combine complementary strengths to create impactful, socially responsive public art.
Join us in creating a public art piece!
Using wood shingles and paint, participants of all ages and skill levels are invited to design a shingle that will become part of the exterior of our outdoor sculpture.
Public engagement dates
March 4
6:30 PM
Craft Movie Night @ The Center for the Arts in Natick, located at 14 Summer St, Natick.
*Screening “Once” - this event is a fundraiser for the Natick Community Organic Farm
March 7
9 AM to 4:30 PM
Mini Golf at Morse Institute Library, 14 East Central St in Natick
We are proud to be decorating hole #1!
*FREE* and open to the public
March 11
2 PM Callahan Center
535 Union Ave, Framingham, MA 01702, United States
*FREE* and open to the public
(Registration required with the Callahan Center at 508-532-5980).
March 14
8:30-11:30 AM
Natick Community Organic Farm’s Maple Magic Pancake Breakfast Memorial Elementary School, 17 Eliot St, Natick.
Pancakes and art-making!
March 27
1 PM
Framingham Public Library, located in the Costin Room @ 49 Lexington Street, Framingham.
*FREE* and open to the public
Questions about public
engagement sessions
Event Partners
Thank you to the following organizations for their assistance
in hosting art-making opportunities in Framingham and Natick.
Morse Institute Library
The Danforth
Art Museum and School
Walnut Hill
Press
Resource List
Stay tuned!