FACES, PLACES & SPACES:
The Somerville Museum (who knew Somerville had a museum?) hosts a “community curator” exhibition each year. This year, through August 23, The #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition — of which I am a founding volunteer — is the community curator. Our exhibition, “Faces, Places & Spaces,” is not a traditional visual art exhibition with paintings, photographs or sculptures. Instead, it’s a visual representation of our movement: preventing artist displacement and creating more inventory of affordable workspaces across Massachusetts.
The exhibition, reviewing our art space advocacy efforts in Massachusetts since 2020, invites viewers to learn about artist displacement, its causes — development, change of owner and extreme rent hikes — and its impact on artists, musicians, residents and communities. Through a handful of different components, “Faces, Places, & Spaces” outlines #ARTSTAYSHERE’s advocacy projects, introduces visitors to 66 artists and musicians in their studios, and invites the community to take part in art space advocacy on site in real time.
BECOME AN ARTIVIST
In the center of the large gallery is an advocacy station where visitors may take a blank postcard from the wall, design one side with markers, chalk pens or color pencils, then write an advocacy message to their mayor or city councilor (or both) about keeping art spaces viable and protected. The designed postcards then become part of the exhibition. Afterwards, we’ll mail them to the elected officials. Folks can also design their own advocacy sign using stencils with slogans like “ARTS MATTER” or “BE AN ARTIVIST.” Makers can take their sign home or have it become part of the exhibition. They can also make their own advocacy buttons.