The Island End River is a small tidal tributary off the Mystic River close to where it empties into the Boston Harbor. At its terminus sits the New England Produce Center, a sprawling wholesale regional food market that is an essential part of the entire surrounding region’s food distribution infrastructure. This low-lying area built atop a salt marsh and tidal floodplain remains extremely vulnerable to flooding.

 

Lead artist Carolyn Lewenberg along with Ruth Henry and Eileen Riestra and a youth team from La Colaborativa installed a giant pineapple sculpture in the intertidal zone near the Island End Park, using absurdity to get people's attention and draw people into conversation about climate change impacts and what is being done to protect the community. A trail of stencil art speaking to the issue of resilience lead people from the Mystic River at Mary O'Malley State Park along the Island End River to the site.

 

This project was made possible by a Chelsea Heritage Celebrations grant from Chelsea Cultural Council and was supported by the Mystic River Watershed, GreenRoots, the City of Chelsea and other partners.

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Learn more about the Island End River Resiliency project here.