LandWave – Peters Park, Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts

There was a time, more than two centuries ago, when a narrow neck of land, barely 40 feet wide, was all that connected downtown Boston – then known as the Shawmut Peninsula – to the mainland. The peninsula, originally a mere 789 acres (3.19 km2) in area, more than doubled in size due to land reclamation efforts, a feature of the history of Boston throughout the 19th century.

Reclamation projects began in 1820 and continued intermittently until 1900 and created the Boston neighborhoods of the South End, Back Bay, and Fenway-Kenmore. The Back Bay Fens, a freshwater urban wild in the latter area, is a remnant of the salt marshes that once surrounded Shawmut Peninsula.

Although this project eliminated the wetland ecosystem that existed there at the time and would be impossible under modern environmental regulations, it was considered a great boon to the community for two reasons. Firstly, it eliminated the foul-smelling tidal flats that had become polluted with sewage. Secondly, it created what is now some of the most valuable real estate in New England.

LandWave is a public artwork that marks the site of the historic Neck to the Shawmut Peninsula. Its creators describe it as a metaphor of land that was once water.

Created by artists Shauna Gillies-Smith, Michael Kilkelly and France Cormier, among others, LandWave runs 130-feet in length, and includes two separate waves. On one side of each wave, a gradient of blue tiles spill over the surface, creating a reflective "ocean." On the other side, a collection of just-bloomed purple flowers peek their way past fresh mulch. At night, the crest of the wave, lined with soft, blue, LED bulbs, lights up.