The Beachcomber Memorial

A rhythmic arc of memory—where granite, shoreline, and echoes of music meet in tribute.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

Client: City of Quincy

Materials: Honed Granite

Location: Quincy, MA

Year: 2025

Scale: 50' x 1' x 7' (5 sculpted panels)

Project Type: Public Memorial / Cultural Tribute

Collaborators:

Artistic Design and Sculpture by Ryan Ackerman

Design, Research and Collaboration by Lennie Peterson

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

  • Five vertical granite panels featuring etched portraits and curated text

  • Honed and sandblasted finishes for contemporary clarity and tactile presence

  • Subjects include Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Loretta Lynn, Linda Ronstadt, and The Dropkick Murphys

  • Concept shaped through interviews with performers, historians, and community members

  • Sited along a curved path in a new shoreline park with open views of Quincy Bay

THE STORY

The Beachcomber Memorial was commissioned to honor one of Quincy’s most iconic cultural spaces—a legendary nightclub that, for over 70 years, served as both stage and sanctuary for some of music’s most celebrated names, and a social hub for generations of locals. Though the venue is long gone, its spirit lives on—in stories, in memories, and now, in sculptural form.

Ryan Ackerman was brought in to lead the design and fabrication of a permanent public installation that would pay tribute to the Beachcomber’s legacy without relying on nostalgia or recreating the past. He partnered with artist and musician Lennie Peterson, who led an extensive research process—interviewing local historians, performers, patrons, and city officials to build the emotional foundation for the project.

From that research emerged a clear vision: Not a monument to a building, but a monument to a feeling.

The final installation features five upright granite panels, each carefully honed and sandblasted, ranging from five to seven feet tall. Their surfaces carry etched portraits of musical icons who graced the Beachcomber stage—from jazz legends to punk royalty—paired with excerpts of narrative text that celebrate the cultural breadth and community significance of the club. The panel’s portraits include Tony Bennett, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Linda Ronstadt, Loretta Lynn, and The Dropkick Murphys.

Ackerman approached the sculptural design with restraint and clarity. His focus: visual precision, material longevity, and spatial rhythm. Each piece was shaped and placed with permanence in mind—clean finishes, coastal-strength granite, built to endure with quiet clarity for decades to come.

The panels unfold along a gently curving path that follows the shoreline’s natural contour & rhythm. The layout invites movement and pause, reflection and flow. Visitors move with the arc of the installation, accompanied by views of Quincy Bay—a subtle nod to the tides of time, memory, and music.

The design avoids overt ornamentation. Instead, it speaks through clean lines, timeless materials, and intentional pacing. It captures the spirit of a place and time without recreating it—transforming memory into material, and music into monument. Allowing stories to come to life.

As Miles Davis once said, “It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t.” This memorial listens to the spaces between. It breathes.

ARTISTIC, CONSTRUCTION & TECHNICAL FEATS

  • Honed granite was chosen specifically for its ability to retain sharp, legible surface etchings in a coastal environment prone to wind, salt air, and seasonal weathering.

  • The engraved portraits and text required high-resolution stenciling and sandblast control, balancing visual clarity with artistic subtlety.

  • The panels were installed with concealed anchoring systems and minimal base intrusion to preserve the park’s open feel while ensuring long-term stability.

  • The installation was designed with grade sensitivity and drainage in mind, ensuring the site remains low-maintenance and structurally sound even in fluctuating seasonal conditions.

  • Ryan worked closely with Lennie Peterson to translate oral history and archival content into sculptural form, balancing accuracy with artistic interpretation.

DESIGN BRIEF: AT A GLANCE

Challenge

How can the legacy of a long-gone, community-defining music venue be captured in a permanent public artwork that avoids nostalgia and feels visually current?

Solution

Through extensive collaboration with Lennie Peterson—who led interviews and narrative research—Ryan Ackerman designed a sculptural experience of five honed granite panels featuring etched portraits and carefully curated language. The layout and material choices were adapted to suit a high-wind, high-salt shoreline park.

Outcome

A crisp, contemporary granite installation that blends story, place, and public space—anchoring a new park with cultural meaning while providing a low-maintenance, long-term tribute to Quincy’s musical history and artistic legacy.

Ryan's work achieves a perfect blend of artisan skill and aesthetics-craftsmanship meets Art meets innovation. He is somehow able to translate original, uniquely creative concepts into final results with a universal appeal. This is not an easy accomplishment in any of the Arts disciplines and Ryan pulls it off with the skill of a master.

— Co-Designer Lennie Peterson, Artist/Illustrator/Musician