Boston, MA

Gaskin: Addressing bias in Boston’s creative economy

Published

8 months ago

November 8, 2023

Gaskin: Addressing bias in Boston’s creative economy

The creative economy provides an entrepreneurial opportunity for Black artists. It also contributes to economic development and quality-of-life improvements in neighborhoods. After attending a reception at the Boston Society of Architects, I learned that there was a relationship between public art and economic development.

This inspired me to look at a webpage produced by the Boston Arts Commission (BAC) that mapped the location of public art in Boston. There were hundreds of “red dots” marking the locations of public art in downtown Boston, but in Grove Hall there was one lonely red dot for a painted utility box. Although the map missed several pieces of public art in Grove Hall such as the iconic clock tower and murals, the point was clear: the private sector and the City of Boston had under-invested in public art in Grove Hall and other communities of color, rendering them public art deserts.

City-supported public art should be found in every neighborhood, as every neighborhood pays taxes. Foundations, who always get more quality applications for the available funds, need to do targeted outreach and provide the support to get quality applications from the BPIOC community. Corporations could use the sponsorship of public art by and or for artists of color as part of their community relations and goodwill efforts.

The lack of public art by and for people of color stems from systemic discrimination. The barriers begin early, with children of color often attending public schools that have drastically cut funding for arts education. Like athletes, artists need to practice, and practice requires resources for materials and skill-building instruction.

Artists of color quickly discover that the professional arts community is a closed system. Qualifying to bid on a public art project often requires a track record of creating public art, which besides being a paradox also assumes a level of resources beyond the means of most artists. After all, creating art, public or otherwise, requires materials and often rent for studio space in addition to living space. With Boston’s housing shortage, there is a dearth of artists’ housing and affordable studio space. Then there’s learning the system, obtaining permits, navigating the process, and connecting with the network of funders and decision-makers. All this takes time and money.

The artists who can afford to work within this system often have master’s degrees and teach art for a steady source of income. But few artists of color fit this profile, so the number who have enough money and time to produce public art is extremely limited.

After working for years to perfect their craft, Black artists face major challenges getting their work exhibited, displayed, and promoted. I have noticed a dramatic difference in the media’s coverage of Black versus white artists. Many publications tend to view exhibitions by white artists as being of interest to the general public, whereas they see exhibitions by Black artists as being of interest primarily to the Black community and a small group of whites, and thus not a good fit for their audience.

A 2019 study of 18 major museums in the United States found that 85.4% of the works in their collections were by white artists and 87.4% by men. Work by African American artists made up only 1.2% of the collections, the lowest percentage for any group.

The George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York is dedicated to photography. The museum houses a collection of over 400,000 photographs, yet a mere 140 are by Black photographers. Of the more than 14,000 photographers represented, only 22 are Black. Not even renowned Harlem photographer James Van Der Zee made the cut.

Archy LaSalle, a fine art photographer and the founder of Where Are All The Black People At has had success working with museums, board members, directors and curators to include more work by Black artists in their permanent collections. Awareness has been growing, but often action is more difficult as it involves significant change and this can be particularly challenging for larger art institutions and boards who are wedded to the past.

LaSalle maintains that support from outside these institutions and the pressure from supporters will make a greater difference.

The Boston Creates plan promotes diversity in the arts, but it doesn’t regard artists as entrepreneurs who need to get paid for their work in order to survive. You have to do more than appreciate diversity, you have to invest in it. Let’s face it: Boston has not done a good job of buying goods and services from Black businesses, and the same is true when it comes to commissioning work from Black artists.

There needs to be a strategy that complements the Boston Creates report that outlines not just an appreciation of diversity, but a plan to make it happen. Elements of the strategy should include:

Artists Housing: Increase investments in artists’ housing, live-work space and studio space,

City Controlled Foundations: Have the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund and the George B. Henderson Foundation increase outreach and support of Black artists. Have them review their policies and procedures through the lens of equity to see how they could increase the diversity of the projects they fund.

Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture Clearing House: All requests for proposals for art or design work from the city should inform the Mayor’s Office, so they can inform all of those on their mailing list. This would make it easier for artists to learn of opportunities from a single point of contact. This is especially true for commissioned work.

Community Preservation Act: Is there a way this resource can increase the support of Black artists?

Address Public Art Deserts in the City: with increased funding or targeted efforts.

School and After School Support: Getting more art into the classrooms.

To achieve true diversity in the arts, the city, foundations, and art patrons must do more to enable artists of color to participate in the arts community and the creative economy as contributors and entrepreneurs.

Ed Gaskin is Executive Director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets and founder of Sunday Celebrations.

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Boston, MA

Devers’ longest career HR wasted as Bello implodes in shortest career start

Published

5 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

Devers’ longest career HR wasted as Bello implodes in shortest career start

On a night when Rafael Devers blasted the longest home run of his career and pulled within single digits of his 1,000th career hit, the story of the Red Sox should’ve been just that: their talented young slugger doing what he does best.

Instead, the story of Tuesday night’s game was this:

A struggling Brayan Bello made the shortest start of his career, three players made an error, and the Blue Jays snapped a seven-game losing streak by scoring seven runs in an inning and beating the Red Sox 9-4.

Early on, it had the makings of a beautiful summer night at Fenway Park. Almost exactly three hours after Alex Cora said, “It feels like he’s about to take off,” Devers did just that, homering to put the Red Sox on the board early for the second consecutive game. Torched 467 feet deep to right-center at 111.2 mph, it’s the farthest “Raffy Bomb” of the slugger’s entire career.

“That is havoc right there,” a mic’d-up Tanner Houck raved to the broadcast in real time.

The Red Sox scored another run when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn’t nab Tyler O’Neill’s pop-up to shallow right – originally ruled a triple, later changed to an error on Guerrero – and Masataka Yoshida doubled to drive him in, increasing Boston’s lead to 2-0.

Almost immediately, however, the Red Sox were dealing with a far less enjoyable brand of havoc: After two 1-2-3 innings, Bello couldn’t make it out of the third. 10 Blue Jays batters came to the plate, and by the time a pitching change was announced, Boston’s 2-0 lead had become a 7-2 Toronto takeover.

The Red Sox starter opened the top of the third by giving up a double to Danny Jansen and a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Kevin Kiermaier’s hit deflected off Enmanuel Valdez’s glove and into right field, getting the Blue Jays on the board. Abreu threw wildly to third, the ball soaring far and high above Devers. The rookie outfielder was charged with an error, the tying run scored, and after a brief meeting of the umpires, Kiermaier stood on third with no outs.

When Bello followed with a walk to leadoff man Bo Bichette, Andrew Bailey paid him a visit on the mound. Bello then proceeded to walk Spencer Horwitz to load the bases – still without an out – for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The slugger would’ve had a homer in 21 other ballparks, but at Fenway, he had a double, which clanked around the centerfield triangle long enough to score two. Justin Turner’s groundout plated another run, and George Springer’s home run to the Boston bullpen made it seven.

Finally, Cora called for Greg Weissert, who came in and got the remaining two outs. All told, Bello lasted 2.1 innings, the shortest start of his career. He allowed a season-high seven earned runs – the most the Red Sox have allowed in a single inning since April 13, 2023 – on five hits, walked three, and struck out two. He threw 52 pitches, 29 for strikes. His changeup was flat, and the Blue Jays hit it hard.

“I obviously didn’t want to come out of the game. I wanted to compete, I was kind of surprised when they took me out,” Bello said (via translator Daveson Perez). “But hopefully, moving forward I don’t have a terrible outing like the one I just had.”

Tuesday was the latest in a concerning line of high-traffic performances by the young right-hander, who hasn’t been the same since returning from the injured list on May 12. Bello went at least five innings and issued two walks or fewer in each of his first five starts of the season, and allowed no more than two earned runs in four of them. In nine starts since the IL, however, he’s failed to complete five innings four times, and allowed at least two earned runs in each game, and at least three in seven of them.

“Honestly no,” Cora answered when asked if he could pinpoint the reason for Bello’s control issues.

“My mindset is good, mechanics are good. I can’t – I don’t really know what’s going on right now,” Bello said. “But I do know that I’m working with (Andrew Bailey) about attacking the zone, doing what I’m supposed to do. And there’s still a lot of season left for me. I know it hasn’t been great to this point, but I know what I’m capable of and I know what I can do.”

Lately, the Red Sox have been the comeback kids. In their first 65 games, they never won when trailing after seven innings, but entering Tuesday, they’d completed four such comebacks in their last 14 contests, including Monday night. Unfortunately, the largest deficit they’ve overcome this season is four runs; they were already down five when Josh Winckowski took over in the fourth and gave up another two (both earned).

Gausman’s start was eerily similar to his previous start, against the Red Sox in Toronto; after allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits, walking three, striking out four, and giving up two homers in 5.2 innings on June 19, he went six innings on Tuesday night. He gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits, including two home runs, issued one walk, and struck out five.

In the Blue Jays starter’s final inning, it seemed like the Red Sox might recreate Monday night’s comeback magic. Devers led off with a 426-foot double to the yellow 420-marker, the deepest part of center field. It might have clanged off the railing and into the stands above the Boston bullpen for his second homer of the night, but the fan seated at the end of the row reached out and made contact, and the ball deflected back onto the warning track.

Thus, Devers stood on second with a fan-interference two-bagger. Gausman wouldn’t be so lucky with O’Neill, who clobbered a first-pitch sinker to 448 feet to the left corner of the Green Monster seats for a two-run homer, his 16th of the year. It would be the last of Boston’s five hits.

Winckowski settled in after the fourth and held the Blue Jays scoreless for the remainder of the game, giving his teammates ample time to chip away. By the top of the ninth, it became a career night for him, too: his seventh strikeout – Guerrero swinging – set a new personal best.

“We gotta throw more strikes, that’s the most important thing,” Cora said of Bello. “Regardless of the results, we have to be more aggressive in the zone. He was 3-1 to Vladdy, right? So I think that summarizes his outing, we gotta throw more strikes.”

“Winck was the opposite,” Cora continued. “He pounded the strike zone the whole night, and he gave us, he saved us today.”

The bottom of the ninth was a mirror image of the night before. Again, Jarren Duran was the last batter of the contest. But this time, there would be no glorious walk-off; the leadoff man struck out swinging for the club’s fourth 1-2-3 inning, the end of his 14-game hitting streak, and the loss.

It wasn’t the only streak to die on Tuesday night. Tied after two games, this will be the first Red Sox-Blue Jays series not to end in a sweep after eight consecutive sweeps since 2022.

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Boston, MA

Boston City Council lacks consensus for straight budget override of mayor’s veto setting up a complicated vote

Published

13 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

Boston City Council lacks consensus for straight budget override of mayor’s veto setting up a complicated vote

The Boston City Council appears to be headed toward a complicated final budget vote Wednesday after failing to achieve the required two-thirds consensus for a straight override of a mayoral veto that fully restored the body’s public safety cuts.

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Boston, MA

Mobile beer garden series kicks off in South Boston – The Boston Globe

Published

20 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

Mobile beer garden series kicks off in South Boston – The Boston Globe

Seven Boston parks will get an infusion of local beer, food, music, and art this summer in a mobile beer garden series starting in South Boston this week.

Hyde Park’s Roundhead Brewing Co. is partnering with Fresh Food Generation, a farm-to-plate Caribbean American restaurant and food truck in Dorchester, on the beer gardens. It’s a series they’re calling “Alianza,” or alliance, speaking to Roundhead cofounder Craig Panzer’s desire to unite folks from different Boston neighborhoods. As BIPOC business owners in the city, Panzer and Fresh Food Generation CEO Cassandria Campbell do more than talk about representing all Bostonians.

“Roundhead is all about building community, and we are darn proud of our place and neighborhood in Hyde Park,” says Panzer. “The mobile beer garden is the perfect opportunity for us to continue doing what we’re doing.”

The rotating beer gardens are structured as follows: At each location, Alianza will operate from Wednesday to Sunday for two consecutive weeks, before traveling to the next neighborhood park. The South Boston beer garden opened June 19 and operates Wednesday and Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.

Those unfamiliar with Roundhead’s beer offerings should expect brews inspired by the founders’ Peruvian heritage, including a cherry rosemary saison and a Peruvian red ale brewed with purple corn.Courtesy of Roundhead Brewing

Fresh Food Generation’s Campbell says that “every two weeks, not only will the location change, but we will be featuring a new menu item in honor of each neighborhood.” The company’s typical dishes combine New England ingredients with Caribbean flavors for mains like jerk chicken and sides like Haitian beet salad. Campbell says that in addition to food and beer, each beer garden will reserve space for local artists and musicians.

“Roundhead is designed as the smallest brewery in Boston for a reason — so we can constantly rotate in fresh batches, and new recipes,” says Panzer.

Introducing craft beer to groups who might not have been familiar with it before has been rewarding, says Panzer.

“People who come to Roundhead in Hyde Park are curious,” he says. “That’s what happens when you intentionally bring different cultures to the customer’s brewery experience.”

The seven beer garden locations were chosen by the city. Future beer garden neighborhood locations, in order, are in the Fenway, East Boston, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, and Brighton. For more details, go to roundheadbrewing.com/alianza-park-series.

Gary Dzen can be reached at gary.dzen@globe.com.Follow him @garydzen.

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