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Upham's Corner Fairmount Train Station
- The Fairmount Transportation Initiative is what the Mayor and the BRA
gave to Upham's Corner instead of a real planning initiative, so this
better do well by our fair city.
 Hanging
our hats on a train station to make a difference to Upham's Corner is
like asking visitors to the Strand Theatre to walk to the back of CVS
to park. T'ain't gonna happen. As if people would go to
South Station to come to Upham's Corner to shop!
Naysayers (sounds like us, doesn't it?) are quick to say: Can't
be done. PPS says: There are no obstacles. But right
now, our station is not as friendly, inviting and safe as it could
be. What can we do quickly, easily and cheaply to make a
difference? Read more - photos
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 Leon Building and Empty Lot
This monstrosity is the ugliest, most derelict building in Upham's
Corner, and the empty lot across the street doesn't help. What a total
waste of community asset.
Is it any wonder that Terrance Jones was murdered outside the Leon
Building? Both he and his murderer didn't choose to open fire at the Pilgrim Church in
the midst of their gardens or on Saturday while Community
Lunch was being served.
"Private
Property" is the by-word, the lens we see the world through.
Boston's Inspectional Services can
only go so far in trying to convince an owner to improve their property
which is permission for the owners to continue to "dump" on our
community, or do nothing.
How
about replacing the ugliness with some beauty. How about creating a SOWA style Open Market across the two spaces.
That's the idea posed by Javier Torres from the Boston
Foundation.
Read More - Photos
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 Nonquit Green
- A hidden and precious jewel in Upham's Corner.
Yet residents were
quick to identify that "the park" was not meeting their needs. A public
space becomes a community asset when it is fulfilling the needs of its
citizenry AND when it helps create connectedness and encourages
community involvement.
Residents, in the park when the PPS workshop toured, readily expressed their ideas on what would make
the Nonquit Green a truly valuable asset to Upham's Corner.
Read More - Photos
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 Dudley Terrace
What is this, the group asked? It wasn't obvious. A street? A
parking lot? A park? This question is a clue that this tiny alcove
would benefit from the PPS approach.
Two findings: Removal of the Dudley Terrace Park left a community
void and a memorial plaque to a murder victim goes unnoticed.
Friendly? Welcoming? Adding connectedness to the community? NO!
Read More - Photos
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From Prior Issues
Got Art? Upham's Corner sure did! - A Terrific Art Exhibit over the Weekend!
May 4, 2012
 Beginning
with a Friday evening reception at the Main Street office and
transitioning well over a hundred people into the gallery space on
Stoughton Street, the champions of "Art in Upham's Corner" were on a
high. "I really like it here." "I'd like to come back and
work here."
UMass students exhibiting their multi-media "Synonym for Change"
artworks in the newly renovated art gallery couldn't have been more
enthusiastic with the "Friends of Upham's Corner Arts Scene"
chaperoning the start of a new wave of activity in our cherished
neighborhood.
Click here to see a selection of the awesome artwork.
"Synonym for Change (Diverge)" - Ashley Overko
This art piece is a combination of two and three dimension, which is a
metaphoric representation about divergence that connects to the
personal or interpersonal.
The purpose of the piece is to create
an individual response that explores and examines divergence in one's
own personal life and on a larger scale of society.
In creating the art, I wanted to show that divergences happen all the
time in everything you do and that's what the lines on the black are
all about. But the reflection is generated by the branch that
sits three-dimensionally on top.
Ashley Overko artwork and interview
"How our Paths have Crossed (Adapt)" - Carrie Savage
"There are all these different paths that each person can take in their
lifetime. My piece is about what happens when those paths cross.
My piece also addresses how two people begin to "adapt" to one another
over time. It's about the organicity these interactions can have."
Overall the shape of
each piece is a mountain. The surface of each piece has a series of off white
stitching which helps make the pieces look like topographical maps.
But in between is colored thread - dark brown and green - which are
trails and represent people in our lives. I hung each piece so the
trails would match up.
Carrie Savage artwork and interview
 "The Death of Innocence (Transform)" - Shana Harden
Literally I was transforming this innocent wedding dress into a dark
layered materialized piece of art, more sculptural than anything
else. Although there is an influence of fashion, it is
still wearable in the gallery space and sculpturally it is considered
high art and not commercial wear. So imagine walking into a
wedding shop and seeing this dress on display. People would
say: That needs to be in an art gallery.
I knew it would be black which has certain
associations with it - darkness, evil. So by taking
this one dress, representing innocence and security, and the red roses,
and building on top of an object that represents life in general.
We start out with no influence, being completely innocent and having no
idea what there world really is.
Shana Harden artwork and interview |
