Arts + Policy

King’s English

The money man behind Boston’s forthcoming tribute to MLK

By Andy Metzger Coretta Scott King, CW in Depth, Marie St. Fleur, Martin Luther King Jr., Paul English 0 Comments Mar 5, 2019

PAUL ENGLISH DIDN’T invent the idea of building a monument in Boston to the foremost civil rights hero of the 20th century, but in the parlance of the high-tech world where English made his millions, he was the angel investor who helped launch it. There was untapped demand in Boston for a suitable tribute to(...)

Sculpture of arms embracing was most popular with public

By Andy Metzger Arts and Culture 0 Comments Mar 4, 2019

THE NONPROFIT KING BOSTON has selected a sculpture featuring two pairs of arms in an embrace as the winning design for a monument on Boston Common to Rev. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King, a couple who met in Boston in the 1950s and then nurtured a transformational civil rights movement. The art committee(...)

The healing power of art

Therapists who use creative outlets to help patients process trauma seek licensure

By Sarah Betancourt Arts and creativity, CW in Depth, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Feb 28, 2019

THE YOUNG GIRL had endured bullying and been called ugly. She was told she had a unibrow by one of her male classmates. At her therapist’s office, she was “withdrawn and disengaged.” She refused to finish a self-portrait she had started the previous week, instead picking up another piece of paper and painting two eyes(...)

Public art stirs controversy in North Adams

It’s not about paint or policy; it’s about engagement

By Julia Dixon Arts and creativity 0 Comments Feb 10, 2019

PUBLIC ART HAS BEEN KNOWN to create controversy. Usually, the aesthetics or thematic content of the artwork is what generates backlash. Diego Rivera in Detroit, Richard Serra in New York City, Jeff Koons in Paris, and lesser-known artists in lesser-known cities have faced criticism from community members over artworks that are deemed offensive or inappropriate.(...)

Shaw 54th: A disruptive work of art

Even so, the famous memorial causes some uneasiness

By Bruce Mohl Arts and creativity 0 Comments Jan 17, 2019

AT A TIME when Civil War monuments across the country are coming under fire, the National Park Service, the city of Boston, and the Friends of the Public Garden are preparing to spend $2.8 million fixing up the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Common. The memorial, facing Beacon Street across from(...)

Who should have final say on public art displays?

By Bruce Mohl Arts and creativity 0 Comments Dec 14, 2018

Julia Dixon, the chair of the Public Arts Commission in North Adams, resigned this week after the City Council once again failed to come to any agreement on whether the mayor or the commission should have the final sign off on public art displays. “Decisions about public art need to be made by those who understand it,(...)

Summer 2018

Keeping Somerville cool

For Greg Jenkins, the arts encompass just about everything, even Marshmallow Fluff

By Bruce Mohl Gregory Jenkins, Somerville, Somerville Arts Council 0 Comments Jul 10, 2018

PHOTOS BY FRANK CURRAN SOMERVILLE MAYOR JOSEPH CURTATONE likes to be bold. “I always tell Greg, bring me something no one else has done and that’s really off the wall,” he says. Greg, in this case, is Gregory Jenkins, the executive director of the Somerville Arts Council. Jenkins generally does what his boss tells him(...)

Summer 2017

The promise of MASS MoCA

The museum’s latest expansion is a hit, but its impact on the struggling town of North Adams remains a work in progress

By Linda Enerson Arts and Culture, Economic development, MASS MoCA, Municipal Government, Western Massachusetts 4 Comments Jul 11, 2017

Photographs by Michael Manning TWO YOUNG MEN from Brooklyn tentatively inch down the hallway, holding onto a handrail because it’s so dark. They turn a corner and the room in front of them opens up, filled with intense light of different colors. They make their way to a bench and sit down, mesmerized by a large(...)