saxonville heart
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In full transparency, the following is a press release submitted to SOURCE media for publication

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FRAMINGHAM – The Framingham Centre Common Cultural District (FCCCD) is pleased to announce the details of their “Many Cultures, One Heart” public art project unveiling celebration.

The first event will be a reception on Friday, June 17, when the artists who designed the thirty-two sculptures will be honored, along with the public art sponsors.

Attendees, including members of the City Council, the FCCCD Board, and others involved in the
project, will all be allowed a sneak peek of the public art. The reception will be hosted by Whole
Foods Market, one of the project’s Gold Sponsors.

“We are thrilled to be unveiling so many sculptures that represent the artistic and ethnic
diversity of Framingham,” said project coordinator Stacey David. “The artists on this project are
from a multitude of races and ethnicities, and even the titles of the works are in various
languages, including Portuguese, Spanish, Urdu, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, and
English. We also have artists representing the Disability community, LGBTQ+, and various
religions. We hope people see this public art as a unifying statement that, while we are all
beautifully unique, we stand together as one community.”

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The celebration continues on June 18 with the Cultural District’s “Many Cultures, One Heart”
multicultural festival, when the heart sculptures will be unveiled to the public.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Centre Common, allowing the community to explore all of the statues, watch a series of multicultural dance and music performances, and visit dozens of arts and crafts booths.
The festival’s performances reflect the diversity of the project. Performers include Indigenous,
Bollywood, Chinese, K-Pop, and Irish dancers; Spanish, Brazilian, classical Latin American, and
traditional Jewish music; and even a well-known James Brown impersonator. The festival is free
and the public is encouraged to attend.

The booths include fine art as well as jewelry and fine crafts from area artisans. In addition, a
number of project sponsors will be hosting free arts & crafts projects and activities. A complete
list of booths and festival performance times can be found at https://bit.ly/FCCCDfestival.

Gold Sponsor Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers will be hosting a festival “after party” at their location.
“The Many Cultures, One Heart Festival is jam packed with great programming, and if you’re
not ready for the fun to stop when the festival ends, then we invite everyone to join us back at
Jack’s Abby for some more food, drinks and entertainment,” said Rob Day, Senior Director of
Marketing at Jack’s Abby.

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After the festival, the heart sculptures will be installed in their permanent homes all around
Framingham.

The festival and public art project have generated widespread financial support through grants
and sponsorships. The FCCCD announced that seven organizations stepped forward with a Gold
Sponsorship contribution, including Whole Foods Market, the MetroWest Visitors Bureau,
Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Access Framingham Television, The TJX Foundation, the
Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism. For more
information on the Framingham Centre Common Cultural District and this project, please visit
www.framinghamcentrecommon.org.

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Alana Conlin’s heart, entitled Woven Together: A Filipino Textile Portrait’ designed for the Friends of Saxonville

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By editor

Susan Petroni is the former editor for SOURCE. She is the founder of the former news site, which as of May 1, 2023, is now a self-publishing community bulletin board. The website no longer has a journalist but a webmaster.