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The 2021 Grant Season, Arts Funding, Chairful, More!
ACAC was delighted to learn that the town will be distributing some $34 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to address the pandemic's negative health and economic impacts on our town, with a proposed $1.5 million supporting local businesses and nonprofits, including those in the hard-hit arts and culture sector.
Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine's informative short video provides an overview of the ARPA Framework and the Town’s proposed spending plan, and invites public feedback here through Sept. 9. Arlington Center for the Arts, Friends of the Drama, International Film Festival, our museums and small galleries, music and dance schools, theaters and historical institutions…our cultural treasures have strained and persisted and brought us comfort through hardship, and now stand to emerge from crisis to recovery and sustainability with new ARPA support.
'VISIT ARLINGTON' WEBSITE & GUIDE LAUNCHED
The Chamber of Commerce will publish the new Visit Arlington Magazine & Community Guide 2021/2022, featuring a wide range of arts, culture, business, shopping and recreational attractions. Distributed by mail and at key locations around the region, the premiere edition will includes features on Arlington’s Cultural District, public art installations, local authors, Jason Russell House, the Dallin Museum and many other points of interest. It will be available in both print and digital formats that include videos, special offers, and more. Find details at the new town tourism website here!
REMEMBRANCE OF CLIMATE FUTURES ARLINGTON: STREET ART!
Twelve Arlington High School interns are wrapping up their summer public art project with Northeastern Professor Tom Starr, ACAC Curator Cecily Miller, and APS Sustainability Coordinator Rachel Oliveri. They have developed 18 markers – inspired by historic trail markers but commemorating climate-change related events still in our future. The markers raise awareness about flooding, urban heat islands, the need for renewable energy and other topics, including tackling invasive Japanese knotweed by turning it into a delicious food served up at the futuristic Knotweed Cafe! The students will create a temporary project this Sept.. Watch for a wheatpaste installation on the exterior of the Edith M. Fox Library.
Remembrance of Climate Futures/Arlington is organized in collaboration with the Arlington Department of Planning and Community Development and funded by a grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Additional support from Sustainable Arlington and generous individual contributions.
LAST CALL TO ENJOY HEIGHTS HAIKU!
Make sure you don't miss 50 original haiku written by your friends and neighbors! The short poems were painted by Arlington volunteers in storefront windows along several blocks of Mass. Avenue where it intersects with Park Avenue. The poems will come down mid-Sept. to make way for a new initiative: windows painted with a Halloween theme. Info about haiku writers and hosts is here. Info about Halloween windows -- join the fun! -- is here!
'GREATER GOODS' HOSTING WORK BY ARLINGTON ARTISTS
This Fall at ArtLinks, artists continue to work with Greater Goods Collective store in East Arlington (212A Massachusetts Ave) to populate the wall called "local artists gallery." This 10' x 10' prominent space showcases new work with powerful messages and is refreshed quarterly. The art is curated by Kristin Kipp, the owner, and ArtLinks co-founder Lidia Kenig-Scher, representing artists within the ACAC.
Through Sept. 19, see the fabulous and well-priced framed photographs by Jon Shanley. On view Sept. 21 through the end of 2021 are intricate and delightful collages by Karen McCarthy. Official opening reception and artist talks will be announced soon.
Artists practicing or living within Arlington or surrounding towns are welcomed to meet like-minded people, share your work, find the latest news about art and artists in town, get calls-for-art, network, make lifelong friends, and cheer and support each other by applying for Artlinks membership This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..ArtLinks members gather for monthly programs that are fun, provide inspiration, and facilitate camaraderie. No matter what your art discipline, ArtLinks welcomes you!
GET TO KNOW FEATURED ARTIST MIMI KIRCHNER! READ ABOUT MIMI AND HER BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS ON ARTS ARLINGTON!
WHAT'S NEW IN PUBLIC ART?
Outdoors is the best place to enjoy art right now in Arlington! So make plans to check out these outdoor opportunities, FREE and safe for all!
Arlington-based arts-related businesses and organizations as well as individual arts instructors and performers are welcomed to submit a free directory listing on the Arts Arlington website and post arts-related events on our partner website Arts Boston to have them included on our town cultural calendar.
To submit a directory listing, please use this link
To post your arts-related events on our partner website Arts Boston, please go heretostart posting or create your new presenter/venue profile today! (You can now post virtual events or classes, but still use an Arlington address to be featured!)
> WHAT'S HAPPENING?
ARLINGTON ARTISTS FEATURED IN LEXART COLLABORATIVE SHOW
Lexington Arts & Crafts Society presents Reflection/Reawakening/ Resilience, celebrating the opening of the Molly Harding Nye Gallery. The collaborative group exhibition unites the arts community across the area, including artists and community arts organizations from ArtSpace Maynard, MetalWerx, Mudflat Studio, Munroe Center for the Arts, The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts, The Umbrella Arts Center, the Weston Art and Innovation Center, and ArtsArlington/Artlinks community artists including Laurie Bogdan, Kristina Goransson, Karen McCarthy, Betty Stone, Kim Triedman, Sarah Wright, and Karen Yi.
An opening reception is scheduled for Sept. 12 from 3-5pm at 130 Waltham Street, Lexington. Masks are required, and reservations are strongly encouraged. See https://www.lexart.org .
VISIT AND REFLECT ON NILOU MOOCHHALA'S INSTALLATION
Arlington's Spring Artist-in-Residence initiative REFLECTING ON OUR PANDEMIC EXPERIENCE has been getting media attention. The project is a public art installation exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the community of Arlington. In Menotomy Rocks Park, Nilou Moochhala shaped an inviting space and suspended 100 drawings into meditation flags in a beautiful grove of pine trees for peaceful reflection and healing. Find out about it on WBUR, the Massachusetts Cultural Council's Artsakehere, on ACMI Talk of the Town, and on Art Outdoors, among others!
This Artist-in-Residence project was generously supported by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Grants Committee of ACAC.
ROBBINS LIBRARY FEATURES ATTRACTIVE SEPTEMBER EVENTS!
Check out the Robbins Library Sept. Newsletter for exciting programs such as "Attracting Birds, Butterflies, Bees & Other Beneficials" on 9/23 and an upcoming swing concert, Plug In and Swing! on Whittemore Robbins Lawn Sunday, Sept. 26!
ACA ANNOUNCES PORCHFEST STAGE
Arlington Center for the Arts (ACA) is excited to present Porchfest Stage on the front steps of Arlington’s Town Hall as part its annual Arlington Open Studios event on Saturday, November 13, 2021. Porchfest Stage will feature free public performances by local musicians throughout the day. In addition, ACA announces a full-scale Arlington Porchfest on Saturday, June 18, 2022. Visit www.acarts.org and www.arlingtonporchfest.org for more about Arlington Porchfest Stage and Arlington Porchfest 2022, and to find out how to hold your very own neighborhood musical events with ACA's DIY Porchfest Guide.
SAVE THE DATE
Saturday, Sept 25, 3-4 pm (rain date Sept 26), the public is invited to help ACAC celebrate the cohort of Utility Box artists that have been helping to beautify our town this summer, as featured in a special projects video on Boston 25 News. Featuring live music staged in a Town Center location TBD, the event will also celebrate the launch of the Go Out Doors Neighbors exhibition of artist-painted doors, part of a regional public art project connecting Arlington with related installations throughout Greater Boston. Watch for details in the mid-month newsletter, on ArtsArlington.org and on social media.
Have arts or cultural events you'd like to share with ArtsArlington? Start here to create a free account on ArtsBoston, share details of your organization or venue, and add your Arlington-based events and we'll post them to our calendar, too!
SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
CUSTOM CONTRACTING
SUPPORTS ARTS AND CULTURE IN ARLINGTON!
LOCATION: 1267A Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington MA 02476
ArtsArlington.orgis a free public resource providing information about town-wide arts events, arts instruction, artist grants, arts exhibition spaces, and other resources. It is produced by The Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture, the official umbrella organization for all town-related arts and culture activities. The Commission consists of a core committee and four main standing subcommittees: Community Engagement, Marketing and Evaluation, Fundraising, and Grants.
We encourage anyone with skills in these areas to get involved! Join us!
The Commission's responsibilities include actively advocating for public access to arts and culture, promoting Arlington as a regional destination for arts & culture programs, managing the Arlington Cultural District, seeking and distributing arts-related grants, and supporting a robust public art program for the Town.
YourArlington's policy about letters to the editor UPDATED Aug. 13: YourArlington welcomes opinions of all kinds from local residents, including national issues so long as you can draw a local connection. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June on Roe v Wade must have echoes here, too. Letters are reviewed for fairness, factualness and taste. This site welcomes letters about any issue that stirs the public mind. Longer opinion pieces are also welcome. NOTE: When email...
UPDATED Aug. 12: Steven Ratiner, Arlington’s poet laureate, sought submissions in February 2020 from Arlington residents to contribute to "a rather unconventional, utterly delightful way to inject poetry into the everyday." It was to remain secret until its debut during April’s National Poetry Month. Then the coronavirus hit. In June 2021, he offers Red Letters 3.0. PUBLISHED: I was asked to write an essay for Askold Melnyczuk’s Arrowsmith Journal about what I learned from the first y...
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McHugh UPDATED Aug. 4: Susan Rachel McHugh, a cofounder of the Arlington Human Rights Commission in 1993 and its first chairwoman, died in June after a brief illness at age 66. Those who worked with her remembered her immediately after her June 20 passing. The Boston Globe published her obituary…
Julian Carpenter, Berklee drummer. / Liam Garcia photo Musician Julian Carpenter, a 2019 Arlington High School grad, aims to feel the beat of the big time as he is among the performers at the Lollapalooza Festival, four days of sounds in Chicago that runs from rap to electro pop and indie to…
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