Art show under T bridge redone

Photographer Brittney Gulakos said she probably made her family jump in the air 100 times before she got the shot she wanted but it was worth it. The photo was chosen as the fan favorite and is now hanging under the bridge in Central Square as part of Centerboard’s public art display.

“It’s my dad, step-mother and two younger brothers,” she describing the photo that shows a family leaping in the surf silhouetted against a sunset. “I saw them and I said I just have to get this shot.”

The eight photos are the second installation to be hung under the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Central Square commuter rail stop. Last summer Centerboard hung the first installation and Art and Cultural Coordinator Kelly Wall said it was very well-received.

Wall said she wasn’t sure how the photographs would fair out in the open.

“I drove by every morning hoping and praying they wouldn’t be vandalized,” she said. “After about four days I decided they were good.”

Wall said she is hopeful that new works of art will be treated with the same respect. She said she was in Central Square supervising the hanging of the artwork Thursday and at least 25 people stopped to ask about the photos.

“The reach of this (project) is untold,” she said.

About two dozen family members, friends and city officials including Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and James Marsh braved the rain for the official opening Thursday evening but the most pressing question was for artist Cheryl Ransom.

Ransom was good natured as viewer after viewer asked her if the red bikini hanging on the railing in her photo actually belonged to her.

“Yes,” she said with a laugh. “We were on vacation in Cypress, I went swimming and hung my bikini there to dry.”

She said when she looked back over her shoulder she liked the way the red bathing suit looked on the white railing with the blue sky in the background so she grabbed her camera. Ransom said it was odd to see her photograph blown up so large and hanging in such a public place but she loved the display and being a part of it.

“I’m just a novice, I’m definitely not a professional (photographer) but each year I learn more and more and I really enjoy it,” she said.

Other works included a second photo by Gulakos of the inside of a piano, a photo of a red cardinal sitting on a branch by Mary Price, a mom and her son in the park by Duncan Hsu, a photo of a water color painting by Christie Connolly, an Ipswich sunset by Thomas McCaul and the space bus by Seth Albaum.

Albaum said he liked the fact that his photo of a toy bus driven by a robot and a spaceman was hung so near an actual bus stop.

“Maybe people will start asking drivers where they can get the bus for space,” he said.

McCaul said he simply appreciated being apart of what he called a really cool project.

“I’m just glad people care enough not just about me but about the city to do this,” he said.

“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Gulakos said. “I hope it brings more people to downtown and I hope it brings the whole art community together.”

Chris Stevens can be reached at cstevens@itemlive.com.