As we were putting together this issue, which celebrates our 8th Anniversary, the value of an art degree became a hotly discussed topic after President Obama, addressing a crowd at a General Electric plant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, said, “A lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.” While the President quickly noted there was nothing wrong with an art history degree, the statement brought a barrage of letters and emails from art professionals, including one from a University of Texas at Austin professor, who then received an apologetic personal response: “I was making a point about the jobs market, not the value of art history,” Obama wrote. “As it so happens, art history was one of my favorite … [Read more...] about Welcome
March/April 2014
Renewal
MOTHER BROOK ARTS FLIRTS WITH A NEW DIRECTION Planted squarely on one of the oft-neglected borders between suburban and urban Boston, the former mill village of East Dedham has long remained an untapped opportunity for thoughtful redevelopment. Along the banks of the Mother Brook Canal, the oldest hand-dug mill pond in the United States (circa 1639), and former home to Dedham Pottery, the factory that produced the collectible, crackle-glazed ceramics from 1896-1943, the neighborhood had the bones for an artistic rebirth. In 2011, a group of civic-minded residents and local selectmen saw the soon to be de-commissioned Avery School as the perfect opportunity. REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE “Why do we automatically think the building needs to be torn down because the use changes?” was the question posed by Town of Dedham Selectman Paul Reynolds, who helped spearhead the re-use … [Read more...] about Renewal
Welcome
As we were putting together this issue, which celebrates our 8th Anniversary, the value of an art degree became a hotly discussed topic after President Obama, addressing a crowd at a General Electric plant in Waukesha, Wisconsin, said, “A lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.” While the President quickly noted there was nothing wrong with an art history degree, the statement brought a barrage of letters and emails from art professionals, including one from a University of Texas at Austin professor, who then received an apologetic personal response: “I was making a point about the jobs market, not the value of art history,” Obama wrote. “As it so happens, art history was one of my favorite … [Read more...] about Welcome