Ideas in the Making: Welcoming the light through community at the AIC

For Colleen Lucas, art has always been about more than materials and technique — it’s about connection. After 20 years teaching art at Country School, and a decade before that at Cohasset High School, Lucas has seen firsthand how making art together can bridge generations, spark conversation and build community.

So as the winter solstice approached — the shortest, darkest day of the year — Lucas had an idea: a communal art project that would invite people of all ages to “welcome the light and chase the darkness away.” The vision was simple and poetic. Making it happen would take a village.

Her first step was finding the right home for the idea. When Colleen reached out to me to explore whether the AIC might be the right fit, it was immediately clear that the project aligned beautifully with our mission. A conversation with Jean Arturi, who manages AIC rentals, quickly turned possibility into plan.

Bringing people together in the community to explore their creative side is at the heart of what we do here at the AIC — and with that shared understanding, the venue was secured.

Next came funding. The Weston Cultural Council enthusiastically supported the project, providing grants for the materials Lucas envisioned for a wide array of handmade lanterns. With space and supplies in place, the focus turned to outreach.

Word spread across town through the Weston website, the school’s weekly WestWord mailer, the AIC newsletter, the Council on Aging bulletin, and posters around Weston. Lucas also called on friends and former students to help serve as instructors and facilitators, expanding both the capacity and the spirit of the event.

On Dec. 20, the result was a joyful outpouring of creativity. Children, teens, adults, and seniors filled the Art & Innovation Center, working side by side to create winter solstice lanterns in many forms. Some were crafted from repurposed milk cartons, others from vellum tubes or tissue paper wrapped around plastic bottles. Still others were intricate origami constructions. Each lantern carried its own story, shaped by the hands — and conversations — of its maker.

“With the help of so many people, it all fell into place,” Lucas said. “Everyone felt so relaxed and engaged.”

That sense of calm focus and shared purpose is evident in photos taken by Nicole Mordecai, a professional photographer and Weston resident who volunteered her talents to document the day. Her images capture faces bent in concentration, hands mid-creation and moments of connection that unfolded naturally around the tables.

The lantern-making event also marks the debut of something new: “Ideas in the Making,” a monthly column from the Weston Art & Innovation Center that will appear here in the Weston Observer. Beyond hosting a wide range of events and activities, the AIC offers programming led by expert instructors across artistic and innovative disciplines. Through stories like this one, the column will spotlight creative techniques, skills, and dynamic happenings — showing how shared creative experiences bring people together.

For anyone who is curious, who enjoys making things (or hopes to discover that joy),and who values community built through shared creative activity, the AIC continues to be a welcoming place.

Thanks go to Colleen Lucas for the original spark; to the Weston Cultural Council for its support; to Nicole Mordecai for capturing the spirit of the day; and to the many volunteers who helped bring light — literal and figurative — to the Art & Innovation Center on the winter solstice. And gratitude to the Weston Observer for sharing this bright moment with the wider community.