JAMAICA PLAIN, MA — The Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, in partnership with the Friends of the Jamaica Plain Library, is proud to announce a new site-specific installation by Boston-based artist Liliana Marquez, also known as Lilimarq.
In December 2024, the library issued a call for artist proposals to create a permanent artwork commemorating the library’s renovation and reopening in 2017. Submissions were reviewed by a selection committee made up of library staff and members of the Friends of the Library. Liliana Marquez was selected for her bold and imaginative vision, as well as her deep ties to the local community.
Liliana’s work, titled Wonderlines, incorporates fragments of the ribbon from the library’s original reopening ceremony. The piece reflects her signature "REPOP ART" style—transforming reclaimed materials into colorful, multidimensional works that explore memory, place, and transformation.
Manifesto /
This piece is a threshold.
A horizon built from fragments once discarded,
now reimagined into a symphony of color and memory.
Wonderlines is my quiet yet vibrant homage
to a neighborhood that taught me how to dream with my eyes open,
to a community that welcomed me with open arms
when I arrived from Caracas, Venezuela. Heart full of dreams,
to the place where, I became an artist, a woman, a neighbor, and a voice.
Each line in this work breathes history—
the story of rescued materials that refused to vanish,
the story of a ribbon from an inauguration, now turned into symbol,
the story of a place where colors are not only seen—
they are felt, they are lived, they are transformed.
Inspired by the color theories of Josef Albers, my Bauhaus mentor,
these tones shift, dance, and dialogue with each other
depending on who sees them, and from where.
Just like life. Just like identity:
what we are is revealed in relation to what surrounds us.
This is a visual song of possibility,
a constellation of lines that invites the viewer to pause,
to imagine, to remember,
and above all...
to dare to dream.
Because awakening to dream is not a contradiction—
it is the boldest act of hope.
And I, Lilimarq, owe Boston—
and especially Jamaica Plain—
the gift of having taught me how to dream.
This commission is made possible through the generous support of The Friends of the Jamaica Plain Branch of the Boston Public Library, a non-profit organization committed to planning and sponsoring free educational and cultural programs for all patrons of the JP Library.
