Photo: James Rojas (WBZ)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Something funny is happening in Boston's Theater District.
"Creepy clowns," one bystander told WBZ NewsRadio Thursday. "But they're interesting, they're making people look."
"The first thing I saw was the top little nose peaking around the corner, so it’s kind of cool," another person said.
Two large inflatable clown heads are dangling about 20 feet off the ground in an alley next to the Modern Theatre at Suffolk University. Are these massive painted visages harbingers of an impending clownish doom? Not quite, according to Michael Nichols, President of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.
"[It's] for fun," Nichols said. [It's] to give people a reason to visit the downtown and spend time crisscrossing the neighborhood this winter."
The clowns are a public art piece called "Endgame (Nagg & Nell)" by Max Streicher. They are part of the larger WINTERACTIVE public art exhibition, which will install a total of 16 artworks and interactive play elements throughout the downtown area. Downtown Boston BID is collaborating with three curatorial partners from Québec on the project: EXMURO Arts Publics of Québec City; LeMonde Studio of Montréal; and Quartier des Spectacles International (QDSI) of Montréal.
Downtown Boston BID says each WINTERACTIVE piece was chosen to encourage wintertime exploration and promote visits during winter months downtown.
"You can love it, you can hate it, you can be creeped out by it, you can be enthralled by it, but it changes your day, right? It makes you pick your head up, interact with maybe people around you, share something with your family and friends, and that’s what we love to see," said Nichols.
All of the installations will be in place by Wednesday, January 17 and remain on view 24 hours a day through April 14.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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