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Boston Globe

On the sunny side with artist Andy Li

At the Navy Yard, a flagpole fitted with a rotating pinwheel at its midsection will project Li's upbeat vision to the world. At the top, a 4-by-6-foot homemade flag — a Li standard — stitched with the title text in lovingly handsewn font, will wave in the sea breeze. Artist Andy Li with his hand-stitched flag for the Boston Public Art Triennial at the Charlestown Navy Yard on May 13. Jasper Sanchez Li means it as a gentle exhortation to celebrate tiny victories, however minute; and with a website — Advertisement Being seen, really, is the point, Li said. 'Small moments can lead to big successes,' he said. 'So I'm saying don't discount them. Be in the moment. You can't change what happened, but you can choose what to do next. Grasp that and appreciate it.' If it sounds like self-actualization as art, well, Li is just that kind of guy. ''Today is the day' was my mantra,' he said. 'I just kept saying it to myself: 'Today is the day I'm going to get out of bed, I'm going to make myself coffee, I'm going to get through my to-do list.' And it evolved into this project. I wanted to create almost a ceremony for people to honor those moments along with me.' Andy Li's not-quite-finished 'Today is the Day' in the 'Lot Lab' space at the Charlestown Navy Yard for the Boston Public Art Triennial earlier this week. Lane Turner/Globe Staff Li's slogan could as easily be a mantra for the Triennial itself. A broad international affair that sprawls from downtown to Mattapan, Dorchester, Cambridge, and Charlestown, it's been a decade in coming, and Li has been along for the ride. A MassArt grad, he was among a cohort of Boston-based artists chosen for the Accelerator program with Starting in 2015, Now + There peppered the urban landscape with an array of contemporary art projects in 'I want to help people to find their own moments of joy,' Li said. Out there in the open with the whole city watching, the Triennial is his best bet yet. Advertisement ANDY LI: TODAY IS THE DAY A project of the Boston Public Art Triennial. May 22-Oct. 31. Charlestown Navy Yard, One 5th Street. Murray Whyte can be reached at