Natick bridge brimming with LOVE 01760 hearts

Dozens of volunteers on Wednesday morning put the finishing touches on the Natick LOVE 01760 hearts project that has been months in the making by scores of other volunteers and artists.

The big reveal of the heart-covered pedestrian bridge in Natick Center will take place on Thursday, July 16 at 6:3o p.m. as part of a scaled down and socially distanced ArtWalk event that night from 5-8pm that will include a hearts scavenger hunt.

The public art installation was conceived by members of the Natick Center Cultural District, SPARK Kindness, local artists, businesses and organizations to help keep the community connected during the health crisis. The installation will remain there through Aug. 9, then portions of it will be redistributed to other venues, including the Natick Historical Society and Walnut Hill School.

Roughly 1,200 hearts were connected and laminated to create a tapestry across the bridge. Among the hearts are those recognizing Natick’s 2020 high school graduates. These hearts complement larger ones displayed in windows across town, including at businesses and municipal buildings.

We swooped in at the end of the project to help with the public art installation at 7am on Wednesday, armed with our masks, zip ties and wire cutters.

We bumbled our way through this epic arts and crafts project to attach several panels of hearts to the fence over the commuter rail tracks. We dare those speeding trains to try blowing off our panels.

Hearts in our section featured kittens, pride colors and Black Lives Matters, among other messages. We definitely got our morning stretching in while connecting them to top and bottom of the fence.

We’re looking forward to seeing the completed project. It wasn’t easy to outdo last year’s Tunnel of Love, but we think the LOVE 01760 team has pulled it off.

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