Members of Bostik and Artaic with Jillian Welenc, LEED AP of Wilson Butler Architects (third from right) in front of her creation, “Anatomy of an Idea."

Bostik donated all installation materials to its strategic partner Artaic, for the firm’s Design N’ Gather (DNG) Mosaic Design Competition. From 200 registrants and 50 submissions, one winning design produced by Artaic was permanently installed at MassChallenge in Boston.

Artaic incorporates state-of-the-art technologies to design and fabricate custom architectural mosaic murals. Via DNG, designers and artists were provided with these tools to create unique mosaic murals. Their designs were submitted to ultimately be produced and permanently installed in the entryway of the new incubator space of MassChallenge, a startup accelerator, located at Boston’s Innovation and Design Building, a floor below Artaic’s studio.

Artaic approached MassChallenge to host DNG 2014 in their newly renovated space, which they readily agreed to do. Through a “blind” judging process, numerous submissions were narrowed down to four finalists. From those, the creation of Jillian Welenc, LEED AP of Wilson Butler Architects was selected as the grand prize winner.

“Anatomy of an Idea” was selected as the mosaic best representing the architecture of the space, characteristics of the MassChallenge brand and, overall qualities of Boston’s Innovation District. Welenc describes her design as “a snapshot of the complexities of developing an idea from concept to reality.” 

“I always start out with a solid concept that defines what to accomplish using specific design requirements,” Welenc stated. “The goal of this mosaic was to embody the spirit of MassChallenge. Interacting with Artaic was an amazing experience. Watching their robotic arms in motion put the individual mosaic tiles in place was incredible. Anyone can be a mosaic artist if they work with Artaic. I know I’ll be specifying their services moving forward!”

Welenc selected Bostik’s TruColor pre-mixed grout, a patented, water-based, urethane material offering color accuracy, stain protection and crack resistance for both residential and commercial tile installations.

"When I first walked into the MassChallenge office facilities, I could immediately feel the positive energy this wide open space and the people who work within it exude. Jillian’s design, in my estimation, was perfect for the entryway. At first glance, there is a dynamic, strong feeling coming from it… for visitors, an ideal introduction of what’s in store for them when they continue inside,” stated Chris Eichman, Bostik’s marketing communications manager, consumer and construction business unit.

Paul Reiss, Artaic co-founder/creative director added, “We’ve been working with Bostik materials and acknowledge their value. As a firm that works with glass mosaics, we also highly recommend Bostik’s Dimension RapidCure grout. We’ve been using this material ever since it was introduced. It not only adds even more illumination to any glass tile installation, but the product is incredibly durable. We are proud to be partnering with the Bostik team, and look forward to many more events in which the Artaic/Bostik strategic alliance proves to be as successful as this one.”

For more information, visit bostik-us.com.