Before 2023 is over, the City is aiming to choose the firm that will lead the effort to redesign the ubiquitous and problematic City seal, according to officials.
The City Seal Working Group stated in its 2021 report that the 1865 image, which “depicts a scene of Reverend John Eliot proselytizing to Native people, specifically the Massachusett, in 1646,” needed to change. After months of work — listening to feedback from the community and Eastern Massachusetts Native groups — members of the Working Group concluded that a change was needed because “the seal does not sufficiently or accurately depict historical events … the design is outdated, unnecessarily complicated, and has degraded over time.”
The current selection group that will pick the design firm includes Councilor Bill Humphrey; Hattie Kerwin Derrick, the City’s Director of Community Engagement and Inclusion; Shubbe Sikka, an urban designer who works in the Planning Department; and Lisa Dady, Director of Historic Newton.
“I’m really excited to update Newton’s City seal,” said Humphrey in a recent phone interview. “It contains some elements that don’t reflect current community values, and it’s not historically accurate.”
Humphrey, Kerwin Derrick, Sikka, and Dady will choose among the final three firms that responded to a request for proposals (RFP) for the job: the Belfort Group of Boston, Levine Design of Framingham, and Sebastian Ebarb of Wayland.
After a designer is chosen, residents will be added to the team, said Kerwin Derrick.
Kerwin Derrick said there is a “placeholder” amount of $25,000 in the fiscal 2024 budget to pay for the designer, but the selection team must review the bids in order to determine the final amount that will be used.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller’s office and Kerwin Derrick emphasized the need for community involvement as the project moves ahead.
According to the RFP, whichever firm is chosen “should plan on 5-7 (minimum) in-person or virtual work sessions with the City Seal Team,” “should include 2-3 (minimum) meetings in person or virtual with the City Council (evening),” and “should include 3 (minimum) virtual public forums (evening).”
When asked if any meetings had been set yet or how the public could find out about them, the Mayor’s Office responded that “Nothing has been scheduled at this point. Once meetings are scheduled, they will be posted on the city’s website and we will publicize them. We value the community’s input.”
In addition, Kerwin Derrick said the City will list the meeting times on the City’s electronic posting board, the Mayor will include the dates in her newsletter, and the City Seal Working Group’s webpage will be updated to include them.
Kerwin Derrick encouraged people to get involved “to have a say and a voice” as the redesign process moves ahead.
Goals for a new seal
The RFP outlines the vision for a city seal, requirements for the design firm, and a link to and a list of some of the Working Group’s 2021 recommendations, including that the image should:
- Retain the circular shape, for its official and traditional feel.
- Retain much of the content of the outer rings, as a link to previous iterations of the seal.
- Consolidate the City’s founding dates to read “Founded in 1630 on Massachusetts land.” The [City Seal Working] Group feels that the years 1688 and 1873 are optional.
- Replace the scene of John Eliot evangelizing Waban [“an important member of the Massachusett, but … not a sachem, or formal leader, of the tribe,” according to Historic Newton] and other Indigenous people with a more suitable image. In its summary of its recommendations, the Working Group wrote, “Pictured is a Colonial authority telling a people that their ways of living and worshiping are wrong. Certainly, most Newtonians would not want a symbol of cultural arrogance to represent their City made up of many faiths and cultures.”
- Remove the word “Nonantum,” chosen by John Eliot for the short-lived (five years) settlement of Native Christians, in part because it is easily confused with Newton’s village of Nonantum, which is at another, entirely different location.
- Retain or omit the words “Liberty and Union,” depending on context of the final design.
In addition, the Working Group recommends that the overall design be simplified to allow for accurate reproduction in many formats (on letterhead, clothing, walls, vehicles, documents, trash cans, etc.), according to the recommendations.
Once a firm is chosen by the City Seal Team, the RFP states the designer must provide “three concepts for review by the City Council. All concepts should include the creation of a minimum of three and a maximum of five black-and-white logo designs for City Council review and selection.”
After meetings with the community, the Council will choose the finalist, the RFP states.
There will then be “two rounds of refinement on the selected concept … [and the] creation of [a] minimum of three and a maximum of five color versions for review,” according to the RFP.
Another community forum will be held, after which the City Council will vote on the final design.
The firm will provide other technical assistance, and in the end, “the artwork [will become] the property of the City of Newton,” the RFP stated.
The document states the project should be completed in one year, unless officials agree to an extension.