OPEN
An exhibition by
Paul Ramirez Jonas
CAC Gallery exhibition, August 4 – September 9, 2005
Reception: Thursday, August 4, 2005, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
 The CAC Gallery is proud to present an exhibition created by artist Paul Ramirez Jonas and curated by
Amy Mackie related to his new public art for Taylor Square. Taylor Square is the recently renovated site
of the Engine 8, Ladder 4 fire station at the intersection of Garden Street, Huron Avenue, and Sherman Street
in north Cambridge.
Taylor Square will be the smallest public park in Cambridge, measuring only 57 square feet, and will have
locked gates. It will be transformed into a communal space through the distribution of thousands of keys and
the invitation to the public to duplicate them endlessly. The exhibition in the CAC Gallery explores aspects
of public and private space and the power of keys to connect individuals and communities through those spaces.
Simultaneous with the opening of this park, 5000 artist-designed keys will be mailed to Cambridge households
and will be made available at the Engine 8, Ladder 4 fire station. Each key is embossed with the phrases “Taylor
Square” and “Copy Me”. Further distribution of the keys and, thus, the sustained life of the park will be the
task of the public. Duplication of the keys is strongly encouraged to increase access to the park for an
expanding community. In the artist’s words, “Taylor Square belongs to the public. It is closed, yet
simultaneously open, re-emphasizing that the ownership of public space resides in the public itself.”
The keys for Open are a tangible symbol of this relationship between public space and the public.
Ramirez Jonas’s artwork activates our sense of civic pride, identification, and responsibility.
Paul Ramirez Jonas’s work has included museum and gallery exhibitions and public art projects throughout
the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island
School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University. He has received grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the International Studio Program in Sweden, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts, among
others. Ramirez Jonas lives and works in New York. For more information, visit: www.automat.com.
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