Arts + Policy

Street mural artists explain their craft

Viewing art as “the creative genius of humanity”

By Shira Schoenberg 0 Comments May 31, 2022

ARTISTS, SAID PERCY FORTINI-WRIGHT, are “documenters” of history. “Without artists, you wouldn’t know what went on in the past,” he said. “Art is what man has created up until now…It’s the most important thing and should be kind of put on a pedestal and not looked at as like art as a profession. It should be(...)

Murals: An emerging form of community development

Many cities find urban art can be transformative

By Shira Schoenberg arts 0 Comments May 30, 2022

THE WALLS OF the affordable housing buildings in The Point neighborhood of Salem have been painted for as long as 15-year-old Bunny Spodick can remember. For a long time, they were painted with nasty messages and graffiti, giving the neighborhood a dim, dark feel, she said. Then El Punto Urban Art Museum started in 2017,(...)

Boston’s corporate sector needs to step up on arts

Firms need to broaden their support beyond large institutions

By Robert H Simonds Arts and creativity 0 Comments May 24, 2022

WHEN I WAS a working musician, few metrics mattered more to me than my orchestra’s concert attendance. A full house has a flywheel effect where the energy between the performers and audience creates a positive feedback loop. It’s no surprise then that corporations tend to support large arts institutions with loyal audiences. This type of corporate sponsorship(...)

CommonWealth wins six awards from New England newspaper association

Four first-place honors across a range of coverage areas among the winning entries

By CommonWealth Staff Journalism awards 0 Comments May 5, 2022

COMMONWEALTH WON SIX AWARDS, including four first-place designations, from the New England Newspaper & Press Association in its Better Newspaper Competition. The awards were for articles written between August 1, 2020 and July 31, 2021. The awards were announced over the weekend at the association’s annual convention in Boston. CommonWealth competed in the category of(...)

Using art to address social issues

Projects across state taking up the challenge

By Beth Francis and Peter Taylor Arts and Culture 0 Comments Apr 14, 2022

First in a series of commentaries on arts in community LeLand Gantt’s performance of Rhapsody in Black was an entry point for people in an overwhelmingly White region to talk about race. This compelling one-man show exploring racism, identity, and self-image was presented virtually in 2021 through a Berkshires community collaboration. Clinton Church Restoration is(...)

New Samuel Slater Experience spotlights ‘father of American manufacturing’

Interactive Disney-like museum teaches about Webster mill magnate

By Shira Schoenberg Arts and Culture, Samuel Slater 0 Comments Mar 6, 2022

AS SAMUEL SLATER traveled from England to the United States in 1789, he voiced his ambitions to revolutionize the US textile industry with knowledge he had gained in England. Yet he also heard the voice of his mentor in his head telling him if he left England, he would be considered “a spy, or worse,(...)

Asian-American/Pacific Islander arts face unique challenges post-COVID

Groups struggled with racism, loss of community

By Shira Schoenberg 0 Comments Feb 21, 2022

TWO YEARS AGO, Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy had 200 students learning martial arts in Malden and Quincy. Its performance team was hired to perform lion and dragon dances and martial arts demonstrations at festivals, weddings, and business openings. Then the pandemic hit. Wah Lum offered classes online. But for students used(...)

New Bedford arts groups making connections

Historical society seeks to promote city’s abolitionist history

By Bruce Mohl Arts and Culture, Municipal Government 0 Comments Feb 7, 2022

THE NEW BEDFORD Historical Society, whose focus is the history of people of color in the South Coast city, appears poised for a takeoff. The society is developing a park and a historic district centered around the abolitionist movement in New Bedford and the city’s role in the Underground Railroad. “Between 1790 and the Civil(...)

The Quabbin lesson of doing big things (mostly) together

In a time of division over even incremental steps, the project to deliver water to Greater Boston stands out even more

By Brian Schultz 0 Comments Jan 28, 2022

BEFORE THE FLOOD Destruction, Community, and Survival in the Drowned Towns of the Quabbin By Elisabeth C. Rosenberg 232 pages, Pegasus Books TODAY IT MIGHT be hard to imagine something that would stir more controversy than a massive dam project, which would displace several towns and thousands of people, and literally inundate the local environment(...)

DCR ghosts artist group in Hull

Local artists seek to convert empty state building into arts center

By Colman M. Herman Arts and Culture, State Government 0 Comments Jan 23, 2022

A FEW YEARS AGO, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation put an early 1900s dilapidated, long-vacant building it owns across from Nantasket Beach in Hull out to bid for renovation and repurposing. The agency got no bids. Now a group called Hull Artists wants to come to the rescue, telling DCR that they would(...)