October 8th-14th marked the third annual HubWeek Festival in Boston, with a rich week centered around innovations in art, science and technology. Founded by The Boston Globe, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MIT, HubWeek is a self-described “giant petri dish welcoming impact-oriented artists, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers, executives, makers, and up-and-comers” that “brings together the curious, those who are building our future.”
HubWeek gears itself towards a savvy audience of “change makers”, “early-stage startups” and “future innovators”. It offers admissions packages for students, corporate employees, and community-based organizations, though anyone with an interest in innovation is sure to benefit. The event boasts a myriad of impressive sponsors ranging from Pfizer and Mass Mutual to WeWork and the Canadian Consulate in Boston. It truly comprises an amazing combined effort from a diverse range of sources.
Since its creation, the event’s website states that it “has grown into a leading ideas festival, covering the forefront of innovation and bringing together attendees from 59 countries, 46 states and 38 industries.” The newest ideas changing our society across industry lines are showcased through HubWeek’s various forums with innovative executives, electric evening parties and other immersive experiences. The festival also highlights an array of artists through its HubWeek Walls portion, which enlists local and national artists to leave their mark on shipping containers gathered in City Hall Plaza.
A September 20th article published by HubWeek on Medium announced this year’s artists, explaining that they would complete their work staring on September 23rd and conclude with the end of the festival. This facet of the festival was presented by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Featured artists included Boston-based artists like Silvia Lopez Chavez, Sophia Ainslie, IMAGINE, Benjamin Stebbings, Brian Denahy, and Adam J. O’Day.
Ann Lewis traveled from her roots in Detroit to participate, while Matthew Zaremba has shown his work across the nation and beyond before arriving at HubWeek. Ruben Ubiera hails from Bronx, NY, while Deme5 has established a reputation throughout Massachusetts. The HubWeek lineup incorporated a beautiful balance of singular artistic perspectives into one cohesive viewing experience.
As a whole, the artists’ work ultimately felt timely. Some, like Zaremba and Denahy took a rather political approach, choosing to highlight the complicated nature of humanity in our overly-connected society. Lewis and IMAGINE took on similar subject matter with a hopeful message, one that encourages viewers to put their differences aside and understand the unity that binds us all. Lopez Chavez and Ainslie appear to exhibit similar mindsets in their distinct styles, which blend traditional techniques with a modern twist, with results that feel both punchy and slightly classical. O’Day and Rubiera used their shipping containers to portray large-scale, cohesive scenes, encapsulating an ethereal sense of fantasy that transports viewers to new realms. Deme5 and Stebbings both showed work that seems more reminiscent of traditional graffiti, with Deme5’s piece outright showing it on a train car and Stebbings invoking the style while espousing his love of travel.
Okuda San Miguel headlined HubWeek Walls with his piece titled “Mermaids and Other Magical Creatures” presented by Seaport. San Miguel’s work for the event featured the “unique iconographic language of multicolored geometric structures and patterns” that has brought him international acclaim to the shipping containers of City Hall Plaza. A statement released by the festival explains that this particular piece “speaks to the relationship between humans and animals, and to themes of respect, diversity, and harmony among beings and with our environment,” with its central human face flanked by the profiles of a bird and mammalian animal. The work’s playful use of color ties the rest of lineup together in its cheerful contemplation.
