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ARTWEEK Kicks Off Friday; Over 250 Creative Events Beginning 4/28
By: A.A. Cristi Apr. 24, 2017
Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek offers new ways to experience art, culture, and creativity. More than 60 percent of this season's events are free and all are affordable. A complete calendar of events can be found at artweekboston.org.
Some of this season's CAN'T MISS events include:
Lead Partner: TINSFE Consulting
Price: FREE
Location: City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Square, Boston
Saturday, April 29 from Noon to 6:00 p.m. Talk by Ed Owen at 2:00 p.m.
With the success of our Museum series event in the Fall of 2016, we now look to launch our Annual Exposition series at Boston City Hall Plaza. Art of the Automobile hopes to present a unique educational motorsport event, showcased in the City of Boston that allows participants from Automotive collectors and enthusiasts of all levels to join in putting on a display for the general public. This spring's event benefactor, the Martin Richard Foundation, allows our Automotive community to "foster greater togetherness, compassion, peace and kindness in our communities through activities that build bridges and bring people together." Special for ArtWeek, at 2:00pm Ed Owen of European Auto Solutions in Waltham will give some history on the design style, and background of our 10 hand picked vehicles. For example, we have Herb Thomas' Nascar winning 1952 Fabulous Hudson Hornet for which the character "Doc Hudson" was modeled after in the movie 'Cars'.
Lead Partner: WCVB Studios
Price: FREE
Location: WCVB Channel 5 Studios, 5 TV Place, Needham Heights
Thursday, May 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Some weather watchers like to rely on the prognostications of The Farmer's Almanac to predict short and long range weather patterns! WCVB's Storm Team 5 Meteorologists combine experience, education and science to perfect the 'art' of meteorology! Go 'behind the scenes' and watch a newscast from inside WCVB Studios in Needham, hear how Storm Team 5 uses computer models to track major storms and observe the process of creating computer graphics for the weather forecast! Visit with Meteorologist Cindy Fitzgibbon! Watch Cindy create computer weather graphics in Storm Center 5 for the Midday weather forecast and watch the Midday news. This event is limited to 15 people, so register early!
Lead Partner: Adria Arch
Price: FREE
Location: Catherine Bertulli Studio, 10 Vine Street, Melrose
Saturday, May 6 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
The artists of the pop up, Appetite, on view from May 4 to 7 at 10 Vine Street in Melrose, host a lively panel discussion with five diverse women artists on how they respond to political and social turmoil. Elisa Hamilton, Kledia Spiro, Silvia Chavez-Lopez, Nayda Cuevas, Kathleen Volp and Adria Arch are Boston based artists who work in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, video, and social practice. The panel, moderated by Mary M. Tinti, curator, will explore how women artists today make sense of our world.
BOMBAntillana - From Bomba to Hip Hop
Lead Partner: BOMBAntillana
Community Partner: Spontaneous Celebrations
Price: FREE
Location: Moon Stage at Wake Up The Earth Festival, Stony Brook T Station - Southwest Corridor Park, Boston
Saturday, May 6 from Noon to 2:00 p.m.
Join in the dancing and singing when BOMBAntillana presents A Lady's Journey from Bomba to Hip Hop, a short musical that explores how identity, achievement, sense of belonging, and self-confidence is all relative to our environment and ancestry. Bomba and Hip Hop are music and dance forms that were created by marginalized communities as vehicles to express pain, happiness and escape from daily struggles. Bomba was created during the 15th/16th centuries by the free and enslaved inhabitants and natives of the Antilles island today known as Puerto Rico. Hip Hip was created in the 20th century by young African American youth living in the Bronx, NYC during the infamous block parties of the era. In both, connections are made through spoken word, call and response songs, music and dance. BOMBAntillana is sponsored in part by the Boston Cultural Council administered through the Mayors Office of Arts & Culture with support from Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Design in Boston: Creating a More Connected City
Lead Partner: General Assembly
Community Partner: Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics
Price: FREE
Location: General Assembly, 125 Summer Street, Boston
Wednesday, May 3 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
In celebration of ArtWeek, General Assembly and the City of Boston are pairing up to bring together designers, entrepreneurs, and policy makers who are helping to define and redesign what makes for a better urban lifestyle in Boston. Why it Matters? We will be discussing everything from third spaces and urban planning to food delivery and mobile apps - we'll discuss what it means to be a Bostonian today and what living in Boston will look like in the future. Join us for a lively conversation followed by plenty of time for connecting.
Games and Politics Game Play Night
Lead Partner: Boston Cyberarts Gallery
Community Partner: Goethe-Institut Boston
Price: FREE
Location: Boston Cyberarts Gallery, 141 Green Street, Jamaica Plain
Wednesday, May 3 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The Boston Cyberarts Gallery presents Games and Politics, an interactive exhibition by the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with ZKM | Center for Art and Media. This touring exhibition focuses on political video games and allows visitors to experience the pervasive forces which the playful digital medium of the computer game can develop. This international group of games are divided into six categories: Making Opinions, Military Matters, Multiple Perspectives, Media Critique, Migration Stories and Mapping Power. On Wednesday, May 3rd the gallery will open for a special Game Play Night from 7 to 9pm with a short talk by a video game theorist, allowing for much game play. Games include "Papers Please" about crossing borders, "Perfect Woman" about female role models, and "dead-in-iraq" based on the one person shooter, "America's Army." This is a chance to experience and interact with a unique traveling collection of video games during its only public Boston stop.
Lead Partner: Karen Kalafatas, Event Creator/Executive Producer
Community Partner: Mosesian Center for the Arts
Price: FREE
Location: Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown
Saturday, May 6 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Open Arts Day featuring Kids Really Rock will be held on Saturday, May 6th from 11:00-3:30 at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown. Centering around the theme "All We Need is Love" the event offers Greater-Boston families of all socio-economic backgrounds a FREE all-day festival featuring family-friendly music and hands-art focused on kindness, and community and creativity. The Kids Really Rock stage will feature all-day performances by nationally acclaimed bands for families and kids, including Karen K & the Jitterbugs and Vanessa Trien and the Jumping Monkeys, to name a few. Additionally, participants can experiment with clay (hand building and pottery wheel), printmaking and mixed-media, and a very special printing project to create print masterpieces! Additionally, Watertown Children's Theatre will host fun theatre-based activities for children, and New Repertory Theatre will showcase their exciting family-friendly theatre programming.
Live Art with Whole Foods Market
Lead Partner: Whole Foods Market
Price: FREE
Friday, April 28 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Locations: Five Whole Foods Markets (listed below):
· Brighton: 15 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135
· Charles River Plaza: 181 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114
· Jamaica Plain: 413 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
· South End: 348 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118
· Symphony: 15 Westland Ave, Boston, MA 02115
Did you know that each of our stores has an artist who creates and designs all the signage you see? Our store artists are going to show you what they're made of! Artists from our 40 New England locations will converge on Boston to help celebrate ArtWeek! Come and experience live art at 5 of our Boston locations!
Our store artists are the unsung heroes of Whole Foods Market. Our customers generally don't get to see them at work...this is an opportunity for us to showcase some of the most talented team members in our organization, as well as express our love of food through creativity!
MassQuerade Ball 2017: Convergence
Lead Partner: MassQ Ball
Community Partner: Castle of our Skins
Price: $20
Location: Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, 85 W Newton Street, Boston
Saturday, April 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Imagine an art event where instead of looking at objects on walls we look at each other; where instead of going to see art, we become it; where people can convene, converge and celebrate what makes us both unique and unified. This is the inspiration behind MassQuerade Ball 2017: Convergence, an inter-generational, cross-cultural exhibition of the arts taking place April 29, 2017. Join us in honoring the diverse artistic expressions of Boston's communities of color in a shared appreciation for arts, culture, and our collective humanity. The Ball is a socially stimulating cultural experience inspired by the experiential art technique of Roxbury-based artist Daniel Callahan. Daniel's visual art practice of "MassQing" is derived from the ancient tradition of body decoration practiced by nearly all indigenous cultures on the planet. By using the human face as a canvas, these "MassQs" literally meld the subject with the artwork, transforming a person into a distinctly unique walking artistic expression. A cross between a Victorian Ball and an arts exhibition, this "MassQuerade" Ball will directly allow attendees the opportunity to be "MassQed" all while enjoying a constellation of live music, fashion, spoken word and dance performances from communities of color, ethnic food, and a DJ dance party.
Lead Partner: Mother Caroline Academy and Education Center
Community Partner: Greater Grove Hall Main Streets
Price: FREE
Location: Mother Caroline Academy and Education Center, 515 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester
Saturday, April 29 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
During ArtWeek, the Mother Caroline Art Ambassadors will take up residency in the 515 Blue Hill Avenue Schoolyard. We invite students, families, and community members to join us for the first paint session in the Smiley Bus Makeover. Visitors are encouraged to make their mark on the bus as well as determine where it goes! We will create a collaborative map of special places and things to see and do in the Greater Boston Area. Mother Caroline Academy takes pride in our ability to connect students, families, and teachers to resources in the Grove Hall community and Greater Boston Area. Sometimes we walk, sometimes we run, but often....you will find us cruising down Blue Hill Ave in our beloved 'Smiley Bus.' But the all-white, 16-passenger bus with the one, wild yellow 'smiley face' is 'too plain for our Janes'. It is high time that the exterior of the 'Smiley Bus' reflect the vibrancy of its passengers-- the Mother Caroline Students, their hopes and dreams! Did somebody say make-over? Inspired by efforts of local non-profits who invigorate our community with art- we hope that our mobile mural will invoke joy in the good people in the City of Boston.
Mural Mile - Intersection of Art and Wellness
Lead Partner: Courtney Thraen / Framingham Downtown Renaissance
Community Partner: Greater Framingham Running Club
Price: FREE
Location: MBTA Framingham Commuter Rail Lot, 2 Howard Street, Framingham
Saturday, May 6 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon
We're thrilled to invite you to the first annual Mural Mile Road Race and Kids Dash. The Greater Framingham Running Club and the Framingham Downtown Renaissance have joined forces to bring you this robust community-building and placemaking celebration. As an official ArtWeek Boston event, this race underscores physical wellbeing and participatory art in the newly minted Downtown Framingham. Registration proceeds sustain the Rich and Chris Chesmore Scholarship, which provides financial support for high school runners as they advance into higher education. Race down the art-filled Mural Mile or 200 meter dash. After the race, get immersed in live music, interactive painting, local vendors and new friends. Capture your #MuralMoment in front of Sorin Bica's famed mural in the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority lot. Event details and schedule • May 6, 2017 • 9:00 am - 1 mile road race • 9:30 am - 200 meter dash.
No Evil Project Exhibit & Photo Shoot
Lead Partner: No Evil Project
Community Partner: Northeastern Crossing
Price: FREE
Location: Northeastern Crossing, 1175 Tremont Street, Boston
Friday, April 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
What defines you? Thousands of people have joined the No Evil Project by posing as the Three Wise Monkeys, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Speak No Evil, to challenge stereotypes and show that people aren't defined by their labels. Participants pick three of their labels such as race, religion, sexuality, hobbies and occupations, politics, medical conditions, and even controversial things like favorite sports teams. Then they write a good deed they've done to show they're "not evil". The result is a fun way to start traditionally uncomfortable but important conversations about differences. Come see samples from the collection from silly to serious, and showing that anyone can do good, no matter who they are. If you like what you see, we'll have a photo studio setup, and the creator of the project will be photographing anyone that wants to be part of the project for free! Unless you have a secret lair where you're devising nefarious plots to bring about world destruction, you can be in the No Evil Project. In addition to reading the stories and talking to the artist, you will be a part of, and help create the art at this event. You will be able to have your photos taken by the creator of the project, Troy B. Thompson, choose your own labels, and tell your story. Your finished set will be available online to share and show you're not evil. Bring your friends and family along to work together. It's free to participate, and everyone gets an "I'm not evil" monkey pin for posterity.
Lead Partner: Neighborhood School
Price: $25
Location: The Center for the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville
Sunday, April 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
During a time of protests, sit-ins, teach-ins, and political upheaval, it can be easy to get burnt out - and to forget that art is also a crucial component of creating the future we want to see. Join artists from across the metro-Boston area in celebrating the vast potential for art to heal, unite, question, enlighten, and change the course of the future. Let's party like there is a tomorrow - and we will shape it! Featuring performances from acrobats and aerialists of Esh Circus Arts, comedian Wes Hazard, and funk/soul band Johnny Blazes and The Pretty Boys, as well as a silent auction, free appetizers, and participatory art-making! All proceeds benefit the Scholarship Fund at Neighborhood School in Jamaica Plain. www.neighborhoodschooljp.org Participatory Visual Art! - Help create a sculpture with your drawing or writing of a vision or hope for the future. The sculptures will be assembled and given away as door prizes at the end of the night. - Figure Drawing hosted by the Sherman Street Art Collective: take turns drawing and being drawn by local artists and other party-goers. You may discover a latent talent you didn't know you had - everyone is welcome, no matter the experience or skill-level! Sherman Street Art Collective believes that there is power in truly taking the time to look at one another, to see and be seen in a deeper way than our every-day interactions allow.
Lead Partner: Friends of Fort Point Channel
Community Partners: Boston Properties/Atlantic Wharf and Boston Children's Museum
Price: FREE
Location: in front of Boston Children's Museum, 308 Congress Street, Fort Point
Sunday, May 7 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Celebrate the art and culture of West Africa and the Yoruba people! Stephen Hamilton, a Boston-based artist, will be leading an Adire dye demonstration as a part of his workshop with local students who are creating a large scale traditional Textile installation based on West African Weaving and Dyeing traditions. After the demonstration, there will be a time to speak with the artists and enjoy traditional West African music and food. This event will be outdoors and rescheduled in case of rain. More details will be released as we near the date, please check back in at friendsoffortpointchannel.org.
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival
Lead Partner: James Kennedy
Community Partner: The Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Village
Price: FREE
Location: Public Library of Brookline, Brookline Village, 361 Washington St., Brookline
Sunday, April 30 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is an annual celebration of kids' creativity in which young filmmakers create short movies telling the entire stories of Newbery Medal and Newbery Honor books in roughly 90 seconds. The film festival, now in its sixth year, was founded by children's author James Kennedy (The Order of Odd-Fish) and screens every year to packed houses at libraries and theaters in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and other cities. This year James Kennedy will hold the first-ever Boston-area screening with co-hosts M.T. Anderson (Feed, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing) and Jack Gantos (Dead End in Norvelt and Joey Pigza Loses Control).
The challenge for kids is to compress the entire plot of a book in under two minutes, often with a transformative twist that results in something weird and wonderful. Past entries include Beverly Cleary's Ramona and Her Father reinterpreted as a James Bond movie and E. B. White's Charlotte's Web imagined as a horror movie. Filmmakers may adapt any Newbery Medal- or Honor-winning book. We'll be showing movies submitted from Boston and around the country.
Tour Grove Hall Tour - Dorchester's Rich Collection of Architecture
Lead Partner: Greater Grove Hall Main Streets
Price: FREE
Location: Outdoors, 60 Washington St., Dorchester
Sunday, April 30 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
During the course of this 90 minute tour we will have the opportunity to learn the vocabulary of historic architectural design as illustrated by buildings representing a variety of architectural styles from the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles of the late 1800s through the Craftsman and Art Deco styles of the 20th century. By the end of the tour hopefully tour participants will be able to identify belt courses, bay windows, pilasters, bracketed cornices and much more. Grove Hall has evolved from an area of country estates to single and multi-family housing. The area has transitioned from English and Irish, joined by European Jewish families, to African American, Dominican, and Haitian families. The tour is led by Ed Gordon, architectural historian, president of the Victorian Society of America, New England chapter, Director of Museum Programs at the historic Old Schwamb Mill and co-author Victorian Boston Today: Twelve Walking Tours.
Wild ArtWeek at Franklin Park Zoo
Lead Partner: Zoo New England
Price: $20
Location: Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Rd, Boston
Sunday, May 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Join us for a fun-filled day at the Franklin Park Zoo to discover how arts and animals have influenced each other! Whether in music, drawing, or theater, animals are often an inspiration. Puppet Showplace Theater will be here to teach you how to make your own animal puppet. In need of some inspiration? Take a stroll through Bird's World or the Tropical Forest. Chat with artist Jen Bradley about her Ape Drawing Project as she draws the zoo's gorillas and gives you some tips for your own sketches. Discover how birds have influenced music and contribute your own piece of art to our community art project. Meet some animals up close during animal encounters and chat with our zookeepers to learn more about these incredible creatures. Improve your wildlife photography skills with professional photographer Steve McGrath during a Wildlife Photography Workshop from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm. Start off with a classroom presentation then have the opportunity to test your new skills out in the zoo. Practice up close photos during an animal encounter and then head back to the classroom to view your photos. Guests are required to bring their own camera. Workshop limited to 30 people, please register on Franklin Park Zoo's website.
A complete calendar of events can be found here.
Launched in 2013, ArtWeek works to spotlight how the creative economy is thriving in Massachusetts. Through community and artistic collaborations, this award-winning festival provides neighborhood-based experiences in dance, folk and traditional arts, fashion, media arts, spoken-word, poetry, writing, contemporary visual arts, music, opera, theater, design, film, and more. Since 2013, ArtWeek has grown exponentially and worked with more than 900 organizations and partners, held more than 1,000 unique events, and expanded into 70+ neighborhoods and towns across Eastern Massachusetts, engaging an estimated 100,000 participants.
For more information, visit www.artweekboston.org.
About ArtWeek - Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek is an award-winning innovative festival featuring more than 150 unique and creative experiences that are hands-on, interactive or offer behind-the-scenes access to artists or the creative process. Celebrated twice per year, ArtWeek was born in Boston in 2013 and has since expanded to serve communities across Eastern Massachusetts. To learn more about the festival and its growth, watch this highlight reel.
Designed to drive neighborhood economic impact and build awareness of the area's creative economy, ArtWeek works with hundreds of community partners throughout Eastern Massachusetts, including Music Drives Us and ArtSpring Cape Cod, and is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. ArtWeek also has a network of generous media partners each year that have contributed $2.2 million in advertising and promotional support since its launch. Current media partners include WCVB and Beasley Media Group, with additional support from Outfront, Overdrive, and CMT Group. ArtWeek has received recognitions from The Boston Globe, BostInno, the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and Americans for the Arts. For more information, visit artweekboston.org.
About Highland Street Foundation - Since its establishment in 1989, Highland Street Foundation has donated more than $180 million to many worthy non-profit organizations. It is committed to addressing the needs and concerns of children and families primarily in Massachusetts and California specifically in the areas of education, housing, mentoring, health care, environment and the arts. To learn more about Highland Street Foundation, please visit www.highlandstreet.org.
About the Boch Center - The Boch Center is one of the nation's leading nonprofit performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic Wang and Shubert Theatres. As New England's largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more.
Located in Boston's historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Leadership Program and ArtWeek Boston; collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston's arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.Comments
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