Putting the Aud's Neighborhood on the Map

Image courtesy of MassLive News.

Approaching the Worcester Memorial Auditorium from the east this week, you'll be greeted by an unfamiliar sight - a dark blue signpost welcoming you to the "Salisbury District" in capital letters. This wayfinding sign is among the first to be installed throughout the city  as part of what MassLive News describes as a months-long process "to add public art and a sense of identity to some of Worcester's neighborhoods and popular locations." Artwork will eventually be incorporated to the base of the signs. In addition to the marker in Lincoln Square, the City so far has installed three others on Shrewsbury Street, Washington Square, and MLK Jr. Boulevard. The total number of wayfinders has yet to be disclosed.

The wayfinder in Lincoln Square will help to establish the future renovated Aud as the gateway between Worcester's downtown and the cultural and educational attractions immediately to the north. The marker publicly identifies a blighted corner of the city as the southeastern edge of the Salisbury Cultural District. The area includes many institutions that already invigorate both the neighborhood and the city as a whole, and which the Aud project is intended to complement.  The next time you visit Worcester, make sure to stop by any of the Salisbury Cultural District's sites:

• The Worcester Art Museum - 50+ centuries of art and the former Higgins Armory collection
• Salisbury Mansion - The city's only historic house museum, built in 1772 for merchant Stephen Salisbury and currently managed by the Worcester Historical Museum 
• American Antiquarian Society  - A vast collection of books and other literature previous to 1877 (in fact, the largest such collection in the United States)
• Tuckerman Hall - Home of the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute - An institution of higher education at the forefront of technological and scientific innovation
• Institute Park and Salisbury Pond - An urban oasis providing opportunities to relax amid nature

http://www.salisburyculturaldistrict.org/