Issue 3 • May 2018 • Facebook.com/TalkArts
IT’S ALL ABOUT
ARTS
Supporting Local Arts and Culture
From the Editor: ART EDUCATION
As everyone knows art is a serious passion of mine. Art is to my soul as food is to my body. Art is a positive. I immerse myself in art in multiple ways. I do art every day. I promote art every day. I seek art in museums and galleries whenever I can. I sometimes even dream art. While I am mostly a self-taught visual artist (trial and error), I support and advocate for art education and the positivity it can bring to anyone who pursues it. Here in New England we are very lucky to have many wonderful institutions for art education. And while some people want to pursue a career and a degree, many others look to enhance their creativity by seeking out classes and skill learning for different art mediums. Either way the opportunity and accessibility is to be supported. It’s All About Arts TV show recently held a 20th Anniversary Celebration. We created an event and a scholarship program that evening back in November. Thanks to sponsors, fellow artists, community supporters, friends and family, we were able to put funds into our scholarship program. This month the Roslindale Arts Alliance will proudly award three art scholarships (visual or performing) to Boston School students. We will continue to seek donations and funding to give more Boston School students the opportunity to pursue art. Please share this opportunity and consider a donation. Visit roslindalearts.org for details. Deadline May 18, 2018.
IT’S ALL ABOUT ARTS
watch on www.bnntv.org www.itsallaboutarts.com facebook.com/TalkArts Twitter - @itsallaboutarts Instagram #itsallaboutarts BEYOND THE PALETTE RADIO SHOW AND PODCAST www.wbcaradio.org facebook.com/glennspalette Podcast can be heard on www.podbean.com or ITunes ROSLINDALE ARTS ALLIANCE www.roslindalearts.org facebook.com/Roslindale-Arts-Alliance-129685993761701 ART STUDIO 99 www.artstudio99.com facebook.com/Art-Studio-99-145566388819141 Twitter @artstudio99 Instagram - janice_art_studio_99 IN THIS ISSUE • Jen Hemenway by Janice Williams • 54th Regiment by Curt Naihersey • Sandra Storey by Mary Ellen Gambon • Goodness • About to Happen • Buy Art
Published by It’s All About Arts Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved Glenn Williams - 617-543-7443 glennsmusic.williams@gmail.com Janice - 617-710-3811 janice@artfulgift.com TO ADVERTISE - REQUEST OUR MEDIA KIT It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
Jen Hemenway and Her Expressive Art by Janice Williams
Born in the Boston area, Jen Hemenway is an artist and poet with talent, vision and heart. Though she has been doing art since her childhood, Hemenway’s creative career began in earnest in Boston in the 80’s and 90’s in high school. There she started drawing and doodling cartoons, self publishing them, publishing in Minneapolis and in the “Lesbian Review of Books” originally based out of California. Then she also started her creative cartoon zine, called 55407 Komix that she continues to this day. Eventually Hemenway made her way back to Boston where she added painting to her art repertoire. Her paintings are unique as she applies her expressive style to paper as well as creative surfaces such as skate boards, tables, metal and other materials. Her bold and functional skate boards are purchased eagerly by the skateboarding crowd (16-million skateboarders in the U.S according to Skate Review). Hemenway
of caring for people. This caring for people is evident in her art work. Her art work tells stories and holds multiple messages. According to Hemenway, “I began doing art as a child as a way to cope. Today I create my art to help myself and others deal with a host of interpersonal events (good and bad) that happen in our lives. The art speaks but is interpreted individually based on one’s experience. “
has created a brand for her skateboards, called “Upside Skate Decks” that she started in the basement of her house in 2004. In 2014 Hemenway stayed for 3 months in Philadelphia to help a friend. She became involved in the Mt. Airy Art Garage artist collaborative and continues to exhibit and sell through them. Hemenway is a full time and long time social worker who has a compassionate sense It’s All About Arts Magazine Maay 2018
Recently Hemenway has been doing a series she calls “Ink Blots” that have been exhibited with “Breaking Silence”, an interactive exhibit in communities that create a unique perspective on interpersonal violence (IPV). According to their website. “Interpersonal violence is a term used to describe a variety of crimes such as domestic violence, adult sexual assault, childhood sexual assault, and stalking.” Her “Ink Blot” art is going around to each of the libraries in Leominster, Fitchburg and Gardner to raise awareness for child abuse and trauma, more specifically the psychological role of verbal abuse and its lasting effects. (continued)
Jen Hemenway and Her Expressive Art by Janice Williams (continued)
Next up in September/October will be art work focused on domestic violence. Hemenway also recently participated in a Martin Luther King exhibit at Fitchburg University. For more info about Hemenway and her art facebook.com/55407-KoMiX-165633603447880 facebook.com/Upside-SkateDecks-173095166049212 facebook.com/jen.hemenway Author’s Note: I recently reunited with Jen and interviewed her at an exhibit opening at Sitka Gallery in Fitchburg. I originally met Jen when she lived in Roslindale (circa 2004) and she participated in Roslindale Open Studios. Over the years I have followed her on Facebook. It is my pleasure to know Jen and to introduce you to her work.
Art Is All Around You
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
Sandra Storey: Jamaica Plain’s Master Wordsmith By Mary Ellen Gambon
Sandra Storey is a Jamaica Plain icon. Best known as the founder, publisher and editor of the Gazette Publications community newspaper chain, she is a multifaceted community gem. From journalist to poet and author, community leader to teacher, Storey has quite a story to tell. A wizard wordsmith, better known as “Sandee,” she fell into journalism unexpectedly. “One day I saw an ad in The Jamaica Plain Citizen,” she said, sitting in Roslindale’s Pleasant Café on a torrential Marathon Monday. “They wanted a half-time editorial assistant. I thought, ‘I could do that.’” Storey was a community activist and worked at Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) as an administrative assistant. She was elected as the first chairperson of the first Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council. From 1968-1972 she was in the Peace Corps in Thailand teaching English. Afterwards she lived in Indonesia for 9 months. “I got to work in the Hyde Park office, where the old Hyde Park Tribune was located, from 1986 until 1990,” said Storey. “I had always thought of myself as more of a feature writer, but I never thought I could be a news writer. Then I was asked to do it, and I really enjoyed it.” She had an influential mentor in Chris Lovett, then the editor at Dorchester Argus-Citizen published by Tribune Publishing. Lovett, has been the news director at Boston Neighborhood Network’s (BNN) Neighborhood Network News show since 1987. He also has freelanced for the Dorchester Reporter since 2001. “I learned how to do the layouts on the boards with the shiny paper by hand” said Storey. It was an amazing experience to be involved in every aspect of the newspaper.” Then, Storey came to a turning point in her life. “I was It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
45 years old,” she said. “I had been there for four years. My daughter was a senior at Boston Latin School. I wanted something different for the community. Instead of trying to change the Citizen, I decided to publish my own newspaper.” In February of 1991, the first edition of the Jamaica Plain Gazette was published. “It was distributed door to door,” she said. “What made it unique was that it was the first community newspaper to publish in English and Spanish. And the Spanish stories were not translations. They were original articles.” To her dismay, the Spanish articles were not appreciated by all. “We drew a lot of attention, especially in the first year. About 10 percent of the readers would comment that they didn’t like it, but we had so many more who embraced it. “Then I received a phone call,” Storey continued. “It said, ‘I hate that you have Spanish in the paper’ and some other comments. Sandee reported the call to police. Being alone in the office, it was good that an officer came and walked me to my car.” Gazette Publications, which went on to publish weekly editions in Hyde Park and Roslindale and a monthly paper in Mission Hill, won recognition for its pioneering style and efforts toward diversity inclusion from its inception. She said that readers liked her writing about civil unions and that many liked to read in Spanish. Publishing a free newspaper in a shrinking economy is a tough business. “We had a higher ad cost for the paper because we were giving out the paper for free,” she explained. “But we would get a larger response because we would go to everyone, and to Spanish speakers. We put the whole paper online in 2005 as well.” Despite her love for the Gazette, Storey decided to go full circle with her career. She returned to her original passion for creative writing, focusing on poetry. “Meanwhile in 2004, I spoke on the phone with Harris Gardner,” said Storey. “He organized a poetry reading in Forest Hills Cemetery. (continued)
Sandra Storey: Jamaica Plain’s Master Wordsmith By Mary Ellen Gambon (continued)
They used to have concerts and poetry readings there. “He said to me, ‘A year from today, I want you to have four poems ready,’” she continued. “I had stopped writing poetry in ’86 or ’87, but in 2004, I was inspired to write poetry again. I came up with eight.” She came up with a multitude of ideas, capturing lines on yellow stickies. “I would write a line and stick it up. Then came another. I did this on a dare. He said, ‘I dare you!’” Storey spread her knowledge of journalism and poetry simultaneously at that point. She taught journalism classes at Roxbury Community College in 2008.She has had two articles published by the Massachusetts Poetry Festival website since she retired. “When I actually retired from the Gazette in early Photo for book cover by poet and photographer Jim Lafond-Lewis
2011, I made a list of things I would do when I retired,” she said. “Everything from getting a manicure to cleaning a hall closet.” At age 69, her expansive collection of poetry entitled, Every State Has Its Own Light, was accepted for publication by Word Poetry Imprint of WordTech Communications. The book was a finalist for the prestigious May Swenson Poetry Award from the Utah State University Press. She has won several other awards, co-authored a book on public policy, and has been a guest speaker at numerous engagements. Yet Storey still cannot cut her Gazette ties. Despite selling the chain and retiring from the newspaper business a few years ago, she still contributes a column. “I now lead poetry workshops, some for people over 62 sponsored by the Poet Laureate Program of the City of Boston and Poet Laureate Danielle Legros George. I also lead a poetry workshop for the Brookline Adult and Community Education”. “I still have something important to say,” she said with a smile. More info: sandrastorey.com
Apartment Morning The bright building hums: whine of kettle under foot, roar of shower in the wall.
Where I sit in the kitchen blinded by a shaft of sun, I don’t need to see
Above, a door flaps, closes. Footsteps fall on the landing rattle down the stairs.
to recognize the neighbors or touch to feel the texture of the hour. Sandra Storey
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
music in Roslindale 4th Annual ROSLINDALE PORCH FEST SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2018
Sponsored by the Roslindale Arts Alliance the 2018 Roslindale Porch Fest will be held on Saturday September 15 from 1:30-5:30 pm, with a rain date of Sunday September 16. This family-friendly event showcases local talent all over Roslindale hosted by residents eager to provide their porches, driveways, yards, and gazebos as venues for free musical performances. Roslindale Porch Fest is free to all, thanks to our generous sponsors. Last year’s event featured live music at 70 locations across Roslindale, with 110 music acts participating in styles ranging from folk to jazz to rock to reggae to classical, and a crowd estimated in the thousands. The registration deadline is August 1st.
Registration is now open for both hosts and musicians. Sponsors can also use this link to help support the event. roslindalearts.org Follow us on Facebook for updates to the event! Logo design By Danny, Sacred Heart School, Roslindale It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
About to Happen
will take place . Starting the
weekend of May 4th and 5th, you can visit Rozzie Theatre, a new, spacious theater, located at 5 Basile st. Roslindale, in the heart of the very walkable Roslindale Village. cszboston.com - Saturday June 2, 2018 from 11am to 4pm - First Church, 6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain. Art, Music, Food, Vendors! jpsbestcraftfair.com
nooks & crannies of Beacon Hill’s North Slope. Residents open up their private gardens, alleyways, and courtyards and allow artists to display and sell their artwork. beaconhillartwalk.org Opening Saturday June 2. has free children’s activities and live music every week! It’s a true community event where residents, local businesses, and farm fresh food come together in Adams Park on Saturdays throughout the summer and fall. Every season is full
On May 2nd 2018, opens its May exhibition, Transient, featuring the work of encaustic mixed-media artist Mary Marley and photographer Rebecca Skinner. Gallery Talk: Sunday May 27, 2018 4:00pm 460C Harrison Avenue, Suite 2, Boston, MA 02118. fsfaboston.com - Saturday, June 2, 11am to 6pm. at DCR Cambridge Parkway & Lechmere Canal Park. The festival will feature staged and roving performances, hands-on art-making and more than a hundred artists and food vendors with work for sale. The Cambridge Arts River Festival is FREE and open to all! cambridgema.gov/arts/Programs/riverfestival
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
Sunday June 3rd from Noon – 6pm, throughout the
of new vendors, performers, and engaging children’s activities. The market is open from 9am to 1:30pm every Saturday, rain or shine, from June through November in Adams Park. roslindale.net/rvms-farmers-market (Oct. 21 and 22, 2018) - registration opens June 1. Roslindale Open Studios is a family friendly event. Artists from Roslindale and beyond show and sell paintings, jewelry, pottery, textiles, photography, mixed-media, and more. Artists will show their work at home studios, group sites, and businesses. For more information, please visit RoslindaleOpenStudios.org
“In Camp at Readville”: an overview of an exhibit installation by the 54th Regiment Re-enactors by Curt Naihersey
Calling all history buffs out there because, as we all know well, the past is always with us! Especially surrounding one of the most dramatic and pivotal moments in America’s past - The Civil War - forcing the populace to confront one of its central tenets: freedom within racism. A war that was fought to end slavery - usually thought of as Northern white men fighting Southern white men - brought about the implementation of the first African-American Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth Regiment organized in the North, serving from 1863 - 1865. This episode was brilliantly characterized in the famous 1989 motion picture “Glory.” For local interest, their importance is immortalized by Augustus Saint-Gauden’s relief sculpture of Robert Gould Shaw and his troops erected in front of the State House. Even closer to home, their training ground before marching off to battle, Camp Meigs, was situated in Readville, a small section of Hyde Park. There is a commemorative park situated just outside of Wolcott Square attesting to its local symbolism. For the past six weeks, the Menino Arts Center in Hyde Park presented an exciting, well-received installation featuring an actual mock camp with tents, period artifacts, photos, maps, and historical excerpts, which was visually brought to life by members of the 54th Regiment Re-enactors, portraying the typical men who served. For many of the half-dozen performers, this is a serious family affair. One member, First Sgt. Gerard Grimes, discovered one of his great-uncles was in the original Regiment. The commanding officer, First Lt. Benny White, has been in the hall continuously, greeting the attendees and answering all questions about the era. [This approach reminds me of Plymouth Plantation, another cultural artifact, with its combination of academic education and life-portrayal.] There was a packed children’s reception and a family day that was especially resonant. Before the exhibit closed, I had a chance to sit down with Benny White and Reggie Dumas, two of the actors, and Sasja Lucas, the curator, to discuss the effects and the success of the presentation. Q: Has the turnout and acceptance of your installation been fulfilling?
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
1st Lt. Benny White: Unfortunately, there’s only been a sporadic interest. There were a few coordinated events with speakers and several student groups that showed up. Also, several individuals found the display quite interesting in its attention to details and artifacts. Since we are part of its living history, I’m satisfied. This is a “time-line” of events that have to be correct. Perhaps, if we had started with better publicity or other connections, it might have been more successful. 2nd Sgt. Reggie Dumas: This was the first time we displayed the entire collection of items. It was very time-consuming effort and seeing it complete helps reflect on the history involved. It’s not easy to relive the past. We were lucky to have some state grants and funds to rely on for purchasing our uniforms. Since this is a volunteer outfit, sometimes the effort is all-consuming and a bit tiring. Q: This re-enactment addresses a racial tension that was and is still pervasive in the US. Do you feel it teaches a deeper ideal of inclusion? Or is the understanding just a sidebar to progress? 1st Lt. Benny White: My first concern was if I had enough background knowledge to explain different situations of the regiment’s heritage. It also brings up a series of questions that address the nobility of the Civil War, which, in essence, is the very beginning of civil rights. The Emancipation Proclamation set the stage for inclusion and the soldiers conscripted did their duty with personal concerns and supreme effort. We have seen such progress with respect to the integration of our society. We have seen so much progress with respect to what black persons can now do in this country. I have a connection back to the men of the 54th and to all those who (continued)
In Camp at Readville: an overview of an exhibit installation by the 54th Regiment Re-enactors by Curt Naihersey (continued)
came before them. 2nd Sgt. Reggie Dumas: I’m from North Carolina, where people just want to get along, and though there are other issues involved, there’s always good, bad, and the ugly. My involvement is a family affair so my interest is deeply ingrained with the fallen heroes. Q: I hoped that with this marvelous exhibit here at the MAC, both white & black Americans will be reminded of a time in the past that we must never forget, showing us how far we have come, and also reminding us that the struggle has to continue for a while longer, until we are obviously a more perfectly intended Union. Thinking of contemporary unease, how can these presentations inform and correct the grip of racism? Can this provide “faith in America’s future”? 1st Lt. Benny White: While the Fifty-fourth Regiment suffered heavy losses at Fort Wagner, there is no evidence that the unit was chosen because they were thought of simply as cannon fodder. When the news of the attack reached home, the unit which had been the target of so much attention, publicity, and skepticism finally earned the respect it deserved. Despite the defeat at Fort Wagner, the use of black soldiers in the 54th was viewed as a success and opened the way for numerous other black units in the Union Army for the remainder of the war. Unfortunately, much of the oppression black Americans have faced in the past century has never diminished. Still, the march will continue! Q: Sasja, what was your hope and desire for this exhibit? Sasja Lucas: As a resident living in Hyde Park for two decades, I knew little more than that the 54th Regiment had been stationed and trained at Camp Meigs in Readville during the Civil War. When I met 1st Lt. Benny White and ‘Pvt. Pierce’ Jo Zellner of the 54th Regiment Re-enactors to discuss the viability of the Menino Arts Center hosting an exhibit, I had no knowledge of the extensiveness of their collection of photographs, printed materials and artifacts. Impressed with their dedication, knowledge and spirit, it was my hope, as curator, to put an exhibit together that would allow them to showcase the objects, for which they felt deep affection and curatorial duty, in a manner that would bring them to life. Thus came the idea of a mock camp, with the participation It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
of many members of the 54th, to staff the gallery, dressed in the uniform of 54th Regiment soldiers and be on hand to give presentations and answer many questions. Through a respectful collaboration whose ultimate aim was to bring to light and educate the public about this important period in US history, I believe we achieved the balance between the curator’s focus to have an overall aesthetically pleasing exhibit and the 54th Regiment Re-enactor’s personal attention to every minute detail. Most importantly, this exhibit portrayed the honor, character and brotherhood of the descendants of the 54th Regiment. From the feedback we have received from attendees from all over Greater Boston and beyond, this exhibit has been very successful. Viewers have exclaimed how surprised and impressed they were to see an exhibit like this in their back yard. Just as all the members of the 54th made me feel at home “In Camp”, I hope this exhibit sparks the interest for the community to find the 54th a permanent home. *************************** In a eureka moment, as I was finishing this article, I bumped into a poem by the brilliant Boston poet, Robert Lowell, who had written “For the Union Dead” back in 1960. The setting is the Boston Common, near the well-known Robert Gould Shaw Memorial. In the poem, Lowell’s visit to the park, which is being excavated to build the underground garage, conjures up a series of associations, one of which leads him to think about the Memorial and its history. In the final stanzas, Lowell thinks of the then controversial Civil Rights Movement and the images of integration that he had recently seen on television. Several lines bear significance: “Two months after marching through Boston / half the regiment was dead; / at the dedication, William James could almost hear the bronze Negroes breathe…… / Shaw’s father wanted no monument except the ditch / where his son’s body was thrown and lost….. / Colonel Shaw is riding on his bubble….. / When I crouch to my television set, the drained faces of Negro school children rise like balloons.” Time genuflects to history. for further info: www.mass54thcompany-a.com or contact: 54thmass@comcast.net
RUTH LAGUE “Landscapes represent fragments of time that will never be again; intimate moments of communion with something greater than myself; quiet meditations to which I bear witness. They compel me to paint”.
Majestic Mountains 36 x 36 acrylic $3500
laguewax.com • facebook.com/Laguewax • instagram.com/ruthlague
It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
It’s All About Arts Television
Promoting Local Arts!
Be Our Guest Live Cablecast Mondays 6-7pm at BNN TV Studios Boston, MA facebook.com/talkarts itsallaboutarts.com bnntv.org Glenn Williams - Host
CONTACT Executive Producer Janice Williams janice@artfulgift.com Brought to you by
Curt Naihersey Guest Recruiter
Kelly Ransom Co-Host
Goodness UPRISE: Celebrating 45 Years of Resistance
clvu.org/45th_anniversary_event TRAVEL THROUGH THE DECADES of a multimedia art installation illuminating City Life/Vida Urbana’s 45 years of struggle and victories, winning social justice and stopping evictions. The gathering will also include food, a light program, and hundreds of incredible fighters like you. FOUNDED IN 1973 by local residents with roots in the civil rights, feminist, and anti-Vietnam War movements, City Life/Vida Urbana is celebrating 45 YEARS of building working class power in order to fight for social, racial, gender and economic justice! For much of that time, we’ve focused on stabilizing Boston’s neighborhoods of color by stopping evictions and displacement. May 19, 2018 at 6pm - 10pm Our Lady of the Annunciation Melkite Greek Catholic Cathedral 7 VFW Pkwy, West Roxbury, MA 02132
GOT GOODNESS? Share your arts related goodness photos and stories with It’s All About Arts send to janice@artfulgift.com It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
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It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018
acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 $250.00
mixed media on canvas 24 x 24 $250.00
mixed media on canvas 24 x 24 $250.00 acrylic on canvas 30 x 24 $250.00
Palm Tree
Tree Collage
Birds of a Feather Tree Maze
BEYOND THE PALETTE
with Glenn Williams ARTS EDUCATION ROCK & ROLL
Arts educator, arts promoter and singer, songwriter, Williams can be heard weekly spinning tunes and talking about arts and education. Listen on BNN Radio: WBCA 102.9 FM (Fridays 6-7 pm) or streamed live on wbcaradio.org and at Beyond The Palette podcast at Podbean or ITunes.com.
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A LITTLE HELP
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It’s All About Arts Magazine May 2018