Swampscott resident Ken Reker has been making art for as long as he can remember.

“I’d go over the my grandmother’s and she’d give me crayons, and they’d give me a coloring book,” Reker said. “I’ve done it ever since I was a child.”

The Salem State University art and design professor has since had his work commissioned by  the Boston Children’s Museum, Sculpture Key West in Florida, the FLOATILLO Festival in Chicago, Waterworks in Savannah, Georgia and the Fort Point Arts Community. 

Now, Reker’s sculpture, “All Style No Substance,” is part of Studios Without Walls’ display at Riverway Park in Brookline.

Reker’s piece is by the Longwood T station stop. The exhibition is part of Studios Without Walls’ 27th annual Urban Symphony.

“There’s a lot of different things on display,” Reker said. “

“All Style No Substance” comes from a series of pieces Reker has created over the years to explore the “nature” of art and try to answer the question of “what is art.”

“It has to do with my interest in what people consider art and people’s definition of art,” Reker said. “It’s usually wide and varied. This piece was made with the idea that whatever it frames, whatever it sits in front of, it takes on a new meaning each time.”

In 2005, while teaching at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Reker participated in an art show called Waterworks. The exhibit’s park setting inspired Reker’s design.

“I thought why not have a Waterworks exhibition structure on water, where people as they drove up and down Victory Drive could enjoy it,” Reker said. “It was a smaller piece.”

The sculpture in Brookline acts almost like a frame, encompassing the view behind it and highlighting the “art” within the natural world.

Reker used expandable foam to “draw with very little control.” 

“I like the effects of it,” Reker said. “It kind of looks like an old Baroque frame.”

The two sides are “all one part,” Reker said. They are screwed together with the middle and corner sections to form the completed sculpture.

“This is one of the largest pieces I’ve done in the series,” Reker said. 

This version of the sculpture grew out of an assemblage Reker created in Salem. He called it an “opportunity to reorganize 30-plus years of work.” 

“All Style No Substance” was made for the entryway into the show. 

Before arriving in Brookline, the sculpture was displayed in Watertown from 2024 to 2026. One of the city’s administrators encouraged Reker to apply to Studios Without Walls. 

“Your work doesn’t define you as a person and how you look at the world, how you respond to the world,” Reker said. “I’m at this juncture where I’m being terribly careful about what I’m making.”

Reker’s sculpture, along with works by 13 other artists, will be on display through September 7.