Related Projects

Schools & Libraries
  • Passage

    • A multifaceted project for the new South Mountain Community Library, connecting people through words to the landscape of South Phoenix

  • Terullian Mantle

    • A multi-part response to the International Day Parade of New York City’s Public School 89

  • In the Dense Words

    • A book environment for a book distribution company

  • Pillars of Thought

    • Transforming architectural elements into guardians of thought in the Scottsdale Public Library

  • Gateway

    • An oversized table creates a fanciful gateway in a Cambridge middle school

  • The Bay Circuit Trail

    • A community project traversing the “Emerald Necklace” surrounding Boston

  • Light Gate

    • Glass laminated with prismatic film captures the sunset for the Centennial Art Project for Manhattan Beach, CA

  • Connections

    • A seating project connecting with the Stanley Tool Company and Central Connecticut State University

Massachusetts
  • Man from City Hall

    • Boston City Hall becomes a giant character for First Night celebrations

  • In the Dense Words

    • A book environment for a book distribution company

  • Glove Cycle

    • Gloves go through a life cycle while leading passengers down into a Cambridge subway station

  • Asaroton, 1976

    • Bronze garbage embedded in a Boston crosswalk commemorates a produce market.

  • Ben’s Circular Tower

    • A place for storytelling and imagination on top of Boston’s Mission Hill

  • Gateway

    • An oversized table creates a fanciful gateway in a Cambridge middle school

  • Drawn Water

    • A permanent piece at the Cambridge, MA Water Treatment Plant about where water comes from and where it goes

  • 300 Summer Street

    • An artist-owned live/work studio building in Boston’s Fort Point area with recycled steel plate sculpture for the public spaces

  • The Bay Circuit Trail

    • A community project traversing the “Emerald Necklace” surrounding Boston

  • Submerge

    • Video collaboration by Mags Harries & Catherine Siller for Art on the Marquee at the Boston Convention Center

  • Winding Down the Charles

    • A performance piece in Cambridge, MA about the length of the river and time

  • Speed of Light

    • Mags’ students illuminate the future route of transit connecting eight communities around Boston

  • River

    • An illusionary river of water, light, and shadow

  • Lucid Moment

    • Bringing together light, liquid, movement, and space

  • Three Gardens

    • Domestic scale gardens make intimate spaces on the grounds of the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA

  • One Legged Table

    • Bringing communities to the table to discuss global warming

  • Our Charles River

    • Exploring the connections between people, water and rivers

  • Reclamation Art

    • Reclamation Artists Boston

Portrait Chairs

  • Location: Library of Freeman Centennial School; Library of Olive B. Day School; Norfolk Town Library, Norfolk, MA (1997)
  • Client: The Arts Council, Norfolk, MA
  • Size: Approximately 5′ x 5′ x 4′
  • Materials: Books, steel, wood
  • Budget: $42,000 Funded by the NEA, LEF Foundation, and local businesses
  • Artist: Mags Harries
  • Photo Credits: Greg Heins
  • Material Donations: Little Brown Publishing, Boston Public Library, and others
  • Fabrication: Assisted by Scott Tiede, Mike Guzikowski

Seats of Honor

Fiction Chair in use

The three Portrait Chairs are set in three libraries (two of them schools) in the Town of Norfolk, MA.  Made from remainder and donated books, they serve as seats of honor.  The most avid readers from the libraries are celebrated by having their photograph taken in the Chairs.  These images become part of growing portrait galleries surrounding the Chairs in their separate libraries.  The Chairs help generate enthusiasm for reading and learning in people of all ages.

A Community Effort

The Portrait Chairs project was initiated by the Norfolk community and was realized only through the persistent advocacy by community members.  The Norfolk Arts Council obtained design development funds from the LEF Foundation and then applied to the NEA in two successive years for matching funding.  This process took 3 years.

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