Sidewalk Sam is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Robert Charles Guillemin (May 4, 1939 – January 26, 2015), a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

-based artist who resided in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

. He is best recognized for his reproductions of European masterpieces, chalked or painted on the sidewalk. Following an accident in 1994 that left him paralyzed, Guillemin increased his focus on large

participatory art Participatory art is an approach to making art which engages public participation in the creative process, letting them become co-authors, editors, and observers of the work. This type of art is incomplete without viewers' physical interaction. It ...

projects for communities and businesses. His motto, on a stickie at the top of his computer, was "Entertain, Inspire, Empower and Unite".

History

Guillemin first took to the streets of Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts in the summer of 1973, drawing famous artworks on crowded street corners where passersby filled a bucket with change. By the early 1980s, Guillemin found business sponsors for his street artworks and shifted to longer-lasting acrylic paints. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Guillemin also organized chalk-drawing festivals, open-air art exhibits, and public art events that engaged participants in the creation of large mosaics, murals, and banners. In 1990 and 1991, Guillemin organized the Boston Artists’ Summer Festival. In 1994 Guillemin fell from the roof of his home which paralyzed him from the chest down and made him into a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries (paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebra ...

user. After his accident, Guillemin returned to street painting and continued to organize participatory art events in Boston and internationally. He appeared on the ''Today'' show and ''Good Morning America'', and was featured in ''People'' magazine, the ''New York Times'', ''Carnegie'' magazine, and a high school social studies textbook. Mr. Guillemin died in his sleep at his home in Newton, on Monday, January 26, 2015, at age 75.

Education

As an undergraduate Guillemin attended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

, the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Unive ...

, and finally,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original c ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

(BFA) in 1962. While at Boston College, he also attended courses at the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...

(a.k.a. Boston Museum School). After graduation from Boston University he traveled to Paris and attended courses at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

and the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Académ ...

. Starting in 1965, Guillemin studied for his master's degree in painting at Boston University, where Walter Tandy Murch (1907–1967) was the chief graduate painting faculty. Guillemin received his MFA in 1967.

Solo exhibitions

* ''Structural Surfaces'', April 1971, the

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

* ''Quick Sketches'', December 1971, the Institute of Contemporary Art on Beacon Street in Boston

Group exhibitions

* ''Flush with the Walls'', June 15, 1971, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Guillemin worked with a group of five artists (Kristin Johnson, Todd McKie,

Martin Mull Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...

, David Raymond and Jo Sandman) to stage a protest event/exhibition in a men's restroom located in the museum's lower level.

Awards and recognitions

* Official Screever of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1984

Family

Computer scientist Ernst Guillemin was his uncle, and he is the younger brother of MIT mathematician Victor W. Guillemin, recipient in 2003 of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings ...

's Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. His brother-in-law is revolutionary historian

Ray Raphael Ray Raphael (born April 19, 1943) is an American historian and author of twenty books. He is noted for his work on the American Revolution, the Constitution, and the regional history of Northern California. American Revolution In 2001, Raphael' ...

References

External links

*
Sidewalk Sam's answer to the question, "What is a failed poet?"
''Somerville News'', 2008