From a giant octopus weaving its tentacles through a Downtown Boston high rise, to street signs with motivational messages, the Downtown Boston Alliance is using public art to keep whimsy and excitement alive in the dead of winter. 

The alliance, an organization aiming to improve the district while keeping it clean, safe and vibrant, is hosting the third-annual Winteractive now through the end of March. Inspired by winter festivals in Canada and Europe, Winteractive is a free, walkable art experience featuring art and interactive play elements at 18 different sites in Downtown Boston. 

“Winter hits and everybody wants to go hibernate for a couple of months,” said Maria Noguera, a planner at the alliance. “But we also have small businesses that are trying to get more people into their shops and restaurants. We feel a mission to support these businesses in our region.”

Along with boosting economic activity in the neighborhood during the winter, Winteractive also helps the alliance achieve its goals of fostering community and empowering residents in the district. 

“All the art that we pick is focused on trying to give people a new perspective of Downtown, to remind them to look up and enjoy the architecture of the space,” Noguera said.  

As you walk down Summer Street, glow-in-the-dark seesaws illuminate the plaza and people of all ages and backgrounds laugh as they jump up and down on either side. On the next block, a street sign reads “Breathe. All we have is now. Relax. Ur okay.” Each installation, handpicked by the alliance’s team, brings a new sense of wonder to the neighborhood. 

“I’ve never looked up at that building before,” said 23-year-old Downtown resident Adil Zuberi as he pointed towards the giant blue octopus at the top of an empty building available for lease on the corner of Washington and Bromfield streets. “Now everybody is looking up at it.”

Los Angeles based artist Scott Froschauer, who has an installation featured in Winteractive, said that looking up isn’t the only goal of the art. 

“There’s really amazing architecture and gorgeous buildings that have all been homogenized at the ground level,” he said. The artwork “gets you to look up, but it also gets you to be present.” 

Froschauer’s artwork aims to do exactly that. His installation “The Word on the Street” showcases street signs that replace words with a negative connotation such as “stop” and “do not enter” with positive affirmations including “do your best” and “you are enough.”

“A lot of the language I use in my art is about immediacy, which is the concept of being present, open, aware, and not just putting one foot in front of the other like you did yesterday,” Froschauer explained. “We become immune to the same thing after the other, the grind over and over again.” 

Froschauer said he imagines his artwork to “break the cycle of consistency.” The words he chooses in his art are uplifting and promote mindfulness and the way he attempts to reach people is by placing his art where you’d least expect it. 

“I take the things that are already in our landscape like street signs and present [the affirmations] in a way that is surprising and might break someone out of that repetition,” said Froschauer 

The somewhat hidden aspect of “The Word on the Street” installation leads Froschauer to believe that 90% of people don’t even notice it as they move about their typical day. But for the 10% that do see it, he believes it can really have an impact. 

Noguera added that “the inspirational touch” of work like Froschauer’s was intentionally chosen to uplift the community. 

“It’s just something to keep you going, to try to bring a smile to your face in a moment when things might be a little bit bleak,” she said.

From laughter and sparked conversations to pedestrians stopping to read the plaque explaining why the heck there are 12 light-up human figures staggered on the Shoppers’ Plaza stairs, curiosity and joy have never felt more present at Downtown Crossing. 

“It was very cool. It made me feel like a kid again,” said Kelly Bowes after spending a few minutes bouncing on the seesaw installation. Bowes braved the frigid temperature and ventured into the city with a friend from the North Shore for the day, which she only does a few times a month. Bowes added that she rarely looks up at the buildings when walking through the city, but now her eyes are peeled for what she might come across next. 

In Noguera’s eyes, the nine months of planning that go into cultivating the Winteractive experience are well worth it. 

“I think that it is such a unique experience to be able to see the way in which people’s eyes light up,” she said. 

Noguera added that the majority of costs associated with Winteractive are supported by long-standing relationships with public institutions and private sponsors including Meet Boston, Bonjour Quebec, The New England Aquarium, The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, among others. 

The alliance’s mission to cultivate community in Downtown Boston doesn’t stop with Winteractive. “We’re looking to provide events that are bringing unique perspectives and diversity of community members into Downtown and we’re really just trying to remind people that Downtown is the neighborhood for everybody,” said Noguera. “Whether you live in Dorchester, the South End, Allston, Brighton, or wherever you’re coming from, this is the place where we can all come together, meet, socialize and interact with each other.”