Collaborative Projects
Abby Neale has created work in collaboration with many organizations, creatives, and community events. They seek out collaborators that share their values in social justice, joy, and affirming mental health.
Play with Pollinators
For ArtBeat Sommerville’s 2024 Pollinator Pathway, Abby created Play with Pollinators, a giant version of a childhood cootie catcher. This piece is so big that multiple people need to manipulate it collaboratively. It features painted images of pollinator animals, plants, and birds findable in Sommerville’s parks.
Boots on the Ground Shirt for Bay Cove Human Services
I created the stomping boot design as a patch celebrating a boots-on-the-ground approach to making the world a better place. That patch found its way into the office of the First Step Program. Their work embodies direct action to help others. We came together to create a shirt design for the organization. I love being able to directly support folks in human services. We worked together to create a recognizable shirt that would feel trustworthy and approachable to folks receiving help from First Step staff.
Folks wearing these shirts can be found providing direct services to homeless folks in Cambridge. They use this amazing van to help people get what they need. I am so grateful that they wanted to use my design as part of their identity.
FirstStep Street Outreach program offers life-saving alternatives to unsheltered homeless men and women who are affected by substance abuse, mental illness, and medical complications associated with life on the streets. FirstStep staff engage homeless people where they are in the community, and build trusting relationships. The goal is to promote human dignity, connect people with the services they need, and save a life today so that recovery is possible tomorrow.
Through a combination of foot teams and mobile teams in vans, our staff travel to known spots with high concentrations of homeless individuals in Cambridge— including business districts, subway stations, parks, meal programs, and drop-in centers—seeking unsheltered men and women who may need help.
