Colors of Concord: The Grassy Plain

Colors of Concord: The Grassy Plain features artworks created by Umbrella 2022-2023 Artist-in-Residence, Ponnapa Prakkamakul.  Following a year of intensive outreach to underrepresented members of the Concord community, Prakkamakul has created a series of site-specific new artworks inspired by the people and places she discovered there.

The work is on view in The Umbrella’s Main Gallery from August 21-September 15, 2023, with an Opening Reception and Artist Talk on Sunday, Aug 27, 3-5PM.

Prakkamakul, who is also currently working on collaborative public art projects in Boston in association with the incubator project Now & There, says her work explores the relationship between humans and their environment, focusing on cultural displacement and a sense of belonging. I explore new places using a mixed media painting process as a tool to experience, understand, and form connections with my  contacts and surroundings.” She often creates artworks in situ, with site-specific natural materials and neighborhood input.

In her Concord residency, she delved into the history of the place through field research, museum visits, town meetings and walking tours, and invited people of color and those living with physical disabilities to share stories and feelings about the landscapes that they feel connected to. “I hope this exhibition contributes to helping make Concord more diverse and inclusive,” says Prakkamakul.

A multidisciplinary artist with a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, Prakkamakul has held past residencies at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Urbano Project, Pao Arts Center, Vermont Studio Center, and others. She is a member at Kingston Gallery and a registered landscape architect at the interdisciplinary design firm, Sasaki.