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Outdoor Reading Rooms


In celebration of the Morse Institute Library’s 150th anniversary, the Town of Natick and the Morse Institute Library commissioned artists to design, construct, and install three original, temporary Outdoor Reading Rooms in public green spaces across the community. Outdoor Reading Rooms are open-air "rooms" where anyone may sit and read!
As temporary art installations, the Outdoor Reading Rooms offer sculptural seating across the community from June to August 2023. The Morse Institute Library will also offer pop-up programming at each location.
This opportunity is funded in partnership with the New England Foundation for the Arts and Cognex Corporation.

Under the Trees @ Morse Institute Library Lawn
by Paul Belenky

Standing still and quiet, trees give us so much. Shade. Food. Shelter. Homes for birds. A place to meet. They are powerful and quiet. Trees tell us stories.
Do these trees tell you a story? What do they say? Do you have a favorite tree? Why is it your favorite tree?

Under the Trees recreates the joy of reading a book beneath a forest canopy. The “tree” is a place to gather and hang out, to think and meditate, or to read a great book. As a shaded gathering point, this piece is designed to be a space where people are drawn to relax and mingle, finding and sharing their voice. Rustic wood pieces used in this installation were generously donated by the Keough Family.

About the Artist:
Paul Belenky was born in 1991 in Boston, Massachusetts. Paul graduated from Brandeis University in 2014 with dual bachelor's degrees in biology and studio art. He completed his MFA at MassArt in 2017, and has participated in several artists' residency programs in the US and abroad including the Wassaic Project, the Fish Factory in Iceland, and Salem Artworks. Currently Paul teaches sculpture and mixed media at Newton South High School. Paul lives life in the pursuit of a state of a specific kind of artistic surreality because to him, absurdity and play often approach truth more closely than portrayals of reality. Paul works in installation, drawing, and sculpture, and aspires to make work that draws both smiles and grimaces.