Local artists sharing vibrant work in vacant storefronts in Needham, Wellesley

NEEDHAM, Mass. — This past year has been brutal for local downtowns all across Massachusetts.

Many small businesses are gone, which has left a growing number of vacant storefronts.

In an effort to create some curb appeal, local artists are sharing their work to temporarily fill those spaces until the economy turns around.

A new painting by Hilary Hanson-Bruel is getting its first showing in what was once the storefront for “Lisa’s Boutique” in Needham center.

Other works from the Needham Art Association are also on display.

“This is fantastic because all the in-person venues shut down,” said Hanson-Bruel. “This was a unique opportunity to allow our artists to have their art out in public.”

The placement of art in vacant stores is part of a project called “Storefronts Needham.”

Charly Nanda, chair of the Needham Council for Arts and Culture, says the boarded-up businesses were starting to bring the whole area down.

“We wanted to fill those empty spaces with some vibrant art and so what we did is we partnered with some community-minded property owners,” Nanda said.

Vacant stores in Wellesley are also being filled with some creative inspirations. “Having art sets a tone,” said Beth Sullivan-Woods, a member of the town’s Select Board.

She thinks this effort helps the surviving businesses.

“I believe it does create foot traffic and it creates a reason to come back and look at art you saw, look at the storefront window you saw, talk to your kids about art.”

It might also lure some new businesses when better times return, according to Sullivan-Woods.

“As our landlords bring in new tenants, it’s an opportunity for them to feel that we’re a community that pulls together in tough times. The artists, the residents, the merchants and the landlords, all pulling together to stabilize and move forward.”

One of the Wellesley sites features work from young people.

Julie Vari of Art Wellesley hopes this project creates a new appreciation for public art.

“We’ve been talking about this idea of bringing more visual art to our community for a along time ... so I definitively feel like this is something that could really be the start of something awesome for our town.”

In Wellesley, they’re now talking about creating a pop-up site, which would be like a gallery.

Needham officials say they’re optimistic about adding a second site soon.

Cox Media Group