Woburn, MA -Cummings Properties brings roadside art to 12 of its locations.
(l-r) Cummings Properties grounds team leader Luis Padilla, associate division manager Chris Marzullo, grounds worker Jarrett Lamb, division manager Dan Linscott, and mason Mike Szetela
Finished in Cummings’ signature orange color, these symbols are crafted in steel and stand at nine feet. Twelve monuments have thus far also been installed at the firm’s business and technology parks in Woburn, Wilmington, Stoneham, Beverly, and Andover, and 10 more are in fabrication in Woburn. The company has also donated a sculpture to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, in North Grafton.
Cummings drew on in-house expertise to complete the design, construction, and installation of these architectural monuments. During this process, team members began referring to the artwork as the “Iron Butterfly,” or Ferro Papilio, for its resemblance to a monarch butterfly in a garden.
The dual purpose of the sculptures is to engage the viewer and enliven the setting, according to Cummings chief design officer Jim Trudeau. Trudeau also created the schematic for the project.
Some onlookers see an enormous X (the so-called “Cummings Crossroads”), others see Jacks from childhood, and several biotech professionals have begun referring to the “Cummings Chromosomes.”
