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COVERING THE FENWAY, AUDUBON CIRCLE, , UPPER BACK BAY, PRUDENTIAL, LONGWOOD, AND MISSION HILL SINCE 1974 • VOLUME 46, NUMBER 1 • JANUARY 3, 2020 - JANUARY 31, 2020 Proposal Offers Kenmore’s ‘Forgotten Block’ Some Love BY ALISON PULTINAS portal where Green Line trolleys emerged IMAGE: WESTON AND SAMPSON andscape architect Gene Bolinger, from underground. Construction of the train calls the Kenmore Mall—on Comm. tunnels and an underpass for traffic beneath Ave. between Charlesgate and Mass. Ave. decidedly altered the landscape. Kenmore Street—the “forgotten A tree inventory completed by block.” Bolinger, who works for the firm consultant Normand Helie found that the L existing park has 25 trees, including a Weston and Sampson and is also preparing a master plan for the Common, recently large canopy American hybrid elms at its presented plans for a redesign of the mall to Charlesgate end. The new plan would add a small group gathered at ’s more trees and seating. It would also remove Kenmore Classroom Building. yew shrubs that block views into the green In the Dec. 17 meeting, hosted by the space. Friends of the Public Garden, he emphasized A significant plan theme is access that the ways the block differs from the mall’s to the park. Improved crosswalks would Back Bay blocks creates an opportunity for a make it possible to cross Comm. Ave. safely plan that supports the needs of the immediate and conveniently, and in the future, with neighborhood. Ideas include a more usable cooperation from the City and State, they “front yard” for the seniors who live at would connect to the a Charlesgate park A rendering shows changes proposed for improving access, function, and quality Kenmore Abbey. But as District 8 Councilor- rejuvenated by new investment. on the “lost block” of the Commonwealth Avenue Mall east of Kenmore Square. elect Kenzie Bok pointed out, those residents The City’s Parks Department hasn’t weren’t at the meeting (Cornwall’s owner Pam budgeted yet for the mall renovation; the However, the Parks Department juggles playground renovations could take precedence, Beale said they had been notified). Friends of the Public Garden funded the many projects, and Liz Vizza of the Friends she feels positive about support for the plan Historically, the Commonwealth Mall, design process. Next steps would be to have said budget planning for the next fiscal year from Parks Department staff. designed by Arthur Gilman, ended at the it included in the 2020 parks capital budget. has already begun. Although other park and Alison Pultinas lives in Mission Hill.

Robert Burns Statue Came Back to the Fens Top Local Stories in 2019 After nearly 45 years, a statue of Scottish poet Robert Burns In the first issue of 2020, The Fenway News takes time to remember the most returned to the Back Bay Fens. Sculptor Henry Hudson Kitson significant stories of the past year. From large development projects to new completed it in 1910; it was installed in 1920. It originally stood elected officials, it’s been an eventful year in the Fenway and Mission Hill. near Daniel Chester French’s monument to Irish-American poet and journalist John Boyle O’Reilly near the Boylston Street 401 Park Redevelopment Picked Up Steam BROOKS JOSEPH PHOTO: Bridge. In 2019, Samuels & Associates continued transforming the Landmark Center The statue was moved downtown to Winthrop Square in into 401 Park. First, they completed replacement of the former parking lot with 1975. Developer Millennium Partners coordinated with Fenway a green space. Then, Time Out Market opened at the corner Civic Association in the process of getting the statue to a facing Park Drive and . The Fenway News’s conservator’s workshop and then back to the Fenway. Rigging- Ruth Khowais reviewed the newly opened food hall in August and-moving specialists Shaughnessy & Ahern transported and and had some reservations about the space and the prices. re-installed it on Oct. 25, and a welcome ceremony took place However, she said, “most of the restaurants are local and on Oct. 30. well-known [and] it was fun to try great foods from famous chefs and local restaurants.” New Arts Academy Finally Got Under Way While Time Out Market offers cocktails, wine, and beer, The Boston Arts Academy building on Ipswich Street underwent demolition in Samuels added craft brewer Trillium’s first beer garden in a February after the school temporarily relocated year-round glass pavilion just outside the food hall. And in December, an ice rink to Dorchester. In April the Boston Arts Academy opened right next to the beer garden. Foundation announced two gifts totaling $1 million—$500,000 from philanthropist Donna Elections Continued Remake of the City Council PHOTO: STEVE WOLF Harris-Lewis and her family, and anther $500,000 A wide-open election to replace District 8 City Councilor Josh from an anonymous donor. Pile-driving for the new Zakim attracted five candidates. Candidates eliminated in structure took place in the fall (left), and the City the September preliminary election included Fenway resident announced plans to create two public works of arts Kristen Mobilia, Montez Haywood, and Hélène Vincent. In the for the new building—one inside and one outside the November general election, Beacon Hill resident Kenzie Bok (left) new building. Funding will come from the City’s One Percent for Art program. received approximately 70 percent of the vote, easily defeating the Back Bay’s Jennifer Nassour. Bok’s term begins this month. Gentrification Heated Up in Mission Hill PHOTO COURTESY OF KENZIE BOK For the at-large seats, community activists Julia Mejia and New development in Mission Hill favored short-term renters and students. Alejandra St. Guillen ran neck and neck for fourth place, requiring Data from the Boston Department of Neigh- a recount. Ultimately, Mejia won by a single vote. borhood Development’s annual report, Student Housing Trends, confirmed Mission Hill and Fen- Death Claimed Pillars of the Community way/Kenmore as the neighborhoods housing Barbara Brooks Simons, a longtime resident, died in late January the most students living off campus. The report at her home on Symphony Road. An author and book editor, she found only 10 percent housing owner-occupied, a was a voracious consumer of the arts, from simulcasts of the Met- very low figure. ropolitan Opera to First Monday concerts at NEC, the Huntington PRIMARY OF COURTESY RENDERING To maximize returns, developers converting Theatre, and Handel & Haydn Society concerts. properties to accommodate students typically Barbara was active in Symphony United Neighbors, the try adding a floor, converting dining rooms and Peterborough Seniors Book Club, and the Northeastern University front parlors to bedrooms, or building an addition Task Force, she served on several impact advisory groups for development that doubles or triples building size. The City of Boston’s inclusionary development proposals in the area. She was also dedicated to The Fenway News. She served requirement only applies to market-rate developments with ten or more housing units as our board president for more than five years, but her work went well beyond that need a zoning change, which has driven a focus on nine-unit redevelopment that—she wrote articles, managed subscriptions, served on the fundraising proposals in Mission Hill. committee, proofread every issue, and restocked the paper at Whole Foods. Barbara instituted a Fenway News tradition of featuring the winners of Kaji Aso The City Tested Mechanical Cutting of the Reeds Studio’s annual haiku contest. Margaret Dyson of the Parks Department told the Fenway Civic Association’s Lori A. Frankian, a 30-year resident, died Jan. 28 after a annual meeting that the City would propose an ecologi- lifetime battle with spinal muscular atrophy. Lori was known cal restoration plan for the Back Bay Fens that would in- throughout the neighborhood for her bright smile and glowing clude cutting of the phragmites (wetlands-protection laws personality, as well as for neighborhood advocacy and an inspi- require state approval of a plan). Residents had voiced rational insistence on living life to the fullest. concern since at least 2018 about activities taking place Stephen Sorkin died in February. A driving in the reeds. Because mowing requires repeating rounds, force behind the Neighborhood Improvement Committee in the previous attempts with just a single cutting had proved un- East Fens, an active member of First Fenway Co-op, he worked successful. In May, the department received approval for a tirelessly to make this corner of the city better. three-year pilot program of mechanical- cutting. City staff The neighborhood also lost Barbara Boger, Fred Taylor, promised that test areas would undergo mowing three to PHOTO: STEVE HARNISH STEVE PHOTO: Richard Parker, Audubon Circle activist Barbara McKinley, and four times each growing season and use of a wetlands seed Brother Robert Paul Donovan, Jr. mix to establish native ground cover. At least two mowings took place in 2019. 2019 TOP STORIES on page 2 > 2 | FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020 Trying to Find the Right Stance on Emotional Support Animals BY ANNA KRACKLAUER AND MISKA dogs can be found in a range of settings: Hyden believes that there is an his daughter. Moments later, he found SALEMANN hospitals, assisted living facilities, and apparent double standard around mental himself grabbing his kids and running assersby might notice the sign even colleges. Rather than serving one illnesses, because she is fighting a less from the scene as the bombs went off. outside the small Italian grocery person, they serve many. They do not have visible struggle. “What I’m battling is more Brady worked in law enforcement for store on Newbury Street. The the right to enter all public spaces. of a mental thing than a physical thing. It’s nearly 20 years and explained that he was sign indicates service animals Terranova recalled a couple of inci- just annoying because I really do struggle consumed by “survivor’s guilt,” regretting Pare allowed into the store, but emotional- dents where she has seen a service dog with something,” said Hyden. not jumping into the chaos and helping. support animals are not. behaving improperly in the store. “I’ve Not all businesses choose to restrict In 2015, after feeling light-headed during Judy Terranova, who works at the seen a woman drag her dog across the entry to sensory or physical service a basketball game, he went to the doctor. register, explained why the business floor because he didn’t want to stand up animals. Some even welcome regular pets. After a blood test, he was told that he had enforces that rule. and didn’t want to leave the store multiple Cory Carrier, 39, is the assistant liver cancer and would need liver-resection “I read the fine print,” said Terranova, times.” Terranova also mentioned an occa- manager at Newbury Comics. surgery. 29. “The service animal act covers the sion where a woman brought in what ap- Carrier is especially enthusiastic His life changed when he saw a specially trained service dogs. It doesn’t peared to be a legitimate service animal. about Newbury Comics pet-friendly friend’s Facebook post about a rescue cover comfort animals. Most people don’t However, she remembers that the dog was policy, “We love all animals. We let service dog from Puerto Rico that she was know that. There’s some arguments that aggressive if she made eye contact with it. dogs in, and we let the regular pups in. If trying to “re-home.” “Duke” had been it should cover comfort animals, and those When asked if any service dogs someone wants to walk a cat in our store, I found suffering, wandering the streets arguments are sympathetic, but at the have caused damage in the store, she think we would be cool with it.” with a wire collar embedded in his neck same time, a lot of them aren’t very well responded “I mean, they like to shove their Carrier couldn’t recall any particularly and had to undergo surgery to have it trained.” face in the Reese’s for some reason, but hazardous situations with animals coming removed. Brady saw something in Duke, It’s increasingly common to see I don’t think they’ve ever actually caused into the store. a reminiscence of the trauma that he too, animals accompany people into public any damage.” “As long as the dogs go to the had fought through. spaces. Some—guide dogs and physical- Due to these experiences, the store bathroom outside before they come in, but With a nudge from his girlfriend, support animals—are allowed by law to does not make accommodations for yeah, we have treats behind the registers. Brady decided to adopt Duke. He chose to go anywhere their owner does. The rules dogs that have not gone through intense We love dogs, bring them by,” he added. train and register him as a therapy dog. for so-called emotional-support animals, service training. Lila Galanoudis, 20, works at Fern Brady believes a dog’s ability to share however, are more vague. This puts local While in college, Terranova had a Exotic Flowers on Massachusetts Avenue. an emotional connection with humans business owners in a tough spot. Owners friend who trained service animals for a Fern allows all types of assistance is extremely valuable. Duke also has the must consider the many implications of living. “She would get really mad about animals and pets to come into the shop. ability to sense when a person is in need allowing those animals into their stores; the bad name that people bringing pets Galanoudis has had almost only positive of comfort, “The funny thing with him is whether they may be a health concern to and comfort animals into places where experiences. when I’m upset, he knows it. And that’s other clients, potential sanitary issues, they don’t belong were giving to specially She does recall a dog misbehaving on not necessarily something that’s ever and behavioral issues that could arise trained service dogs, because they’re one occasion. “I’ve seen some little dog been taught to him. If I’m having a bad because emotional-support animals are really expensive to train,” Terranova like knock over some plants. That was just day or if I’m frustrated or sad, he all of a not required to go through intensive explained. a rowdy little dog.” Usually, she doesn’t sudden appears at my feet.” training. Catherine Hyden, a student at ask customers whether their animal is an When things get hard, Brady feels The Massachusetts Service Animal Northeastern University, owns an assistance animal. as if Duke and he have an understanding. Law defines a service animal as a “dog emotional-support dog and has to “We’re pretty relaxed with that. I’ve As both are survivors of traumatic that accompanies an individual with a deal with the rules around taking her never really asked anybody [whether their experiences, they are now there for each sensory and or physical disability.” Dogs companion in businesses. She has had her animal is an assistance animal] and I don’t other to face other hardships together. “I that support people with psychiatric Lhasa Apso, Daisy, for eight years. She think anyone else really discerns. As long feel like we sort of have an agreement, you disabilities, like PTSD, also fall under this decided to register Daisy as an emotional- as they trust their pet in the store, then know, he was this close to death and he category. This law requires public spaces support animal because she struggles we trust their pet. Yeah, service animals fought his way through it.” to allow service animals to accompany with anxiety and depression. are totally welcome.” The shop even elects Brady acknowledges that emotional people with disabilities. Because Hyden isn’t allowed to bring to move plants that are toxic to animals to support dogs serve a purpose but is However, the rules are different Daisy with her to many grocery stores, higher shelves. concerned that they aren’t held to the for emotional-support animals, which shopping has become more complicated. Although many people and same standards of training as service or don’t have to be specifically trained as a “I have to make a whole separate trip to go businesses feel differently about the therapy dogs. “I do feel like therapy dogs service animal does. In Massachusetts, to a grocery store because I just can’t take rights different dogs should have, there is go through significant amounts of training an owner may have to provide a letter her with me,” said Hyden. one thing many tend to agree on. Owners to get to the level where Duke is, whereas from a licensed health professional to Hyden has encountered a few of assistance animals and regular pets cite emotional-support animals require no prove that their ESA is not just a pet. business owners who questioned her an undeniable bond between them and training at all. And so, my argument is Local businesses do not have to allow need for a support animal. She recalls one their animals. always, who would you rather have in a emotional-support animals to enter. time she went grocery shopping and was Ken Brady spent many years in a public place like this? Duke, or a dog that’s A therapy animal takes part in a confronted by women reminding her that battle with mental health problems. In had no training at all?” type of animal-assisted intervention they don’t allow pets. “I said, ‘No, she’s 2011, his marriage dissolved in an unhappy Anna Kracklauer and Miska Salemann in which the animal serves as a part of a support animal.’ And she goes, ‘do you divorce. In 2013, he stood at the finish are journalism students at Northeastern the treatment process. Hence, therapy need her to shop’?” said Hyden. line of the Boston Marathon, cheering on University.

> 2019 from page 1 Simmons proposed leasing its residential campus between Pilgrim Road and Development Demand Stayed Strong in the Fenway... Brookline Avenue to another institution or a private developer. The resulting rev- The Parcel 12 Air Rights project (left)—a 20-story office enue would finance construction of a 16- to 19-story dorm on the main campus, building along Boylston Street, and a 12-story CItizen M where all the displaced facilities would relocate. Leasing out the six-acre site hotel next to Newbury Street Extension—received state would create the potential for the biggest development in the Longwood area in environmental approval. The state’s historical commission, decades. however, required ongoing consultation on to “eliminate, minimize, or mitigate” adverse impacts on historic resources. Late in the year the developer announced a lead tenant, City Rebuilt Johnson Gates Area CarGurus, now located in Cambridge, for the office building. A relatively quick renovation brought new landscaping, lighting, The Red Sox, in a venture with Live Nation and the House pathways, and accessibility upgrades to the Johnson Gates (and of Blues, won approval to build a concert hall with room conservation of the gates themselves). The project triggered an uproar among residents after the City cut several mature shade

RENDERING COURTESY OF S&A P-12 PROPERTY LLC for 5,400 patrons at the corner of Lansdowne and Ipswich streets. Residents argued against the project, citing existing traffic levels, blocked trees on both sides of the space to prepare for the work. emergency vehicles, and increased crowds, noise, and misbehavior. In September, the Zoning Board of Appeal approved Cabot, Cabot & Forbes’s plan to build 440 apartments and condos in three eight-story buildings on the former Boston Cab site in the West Fens. The plan included 37 affordable units and sent a $6 million payment to a City affordable-housing fund that will maintain affordability of the Newcastle/Saranac complex in the South End. One of the CC&F buildings will house the K Street Clubhouse, which hosts LGBT-focused recovery meetings. HUNTINGTON Scape North America, which had proposed student housing at 1252-1270 Boylston St., revised its plans in the face of neighborhood pushback, proposing instead 477 UNIQUEWINE WINES • BOUTIQUE & SPIRITS BEERS • EXOTIC SPIRITS rental apartments, ground-floor retail space, and an LGBTQ-focused black box theater inspired by the existing Machine nightclub. Celebrating our 83rd year! Thank you, Boston, for letting us ...And in Mission Hill, Kenmore Square, and the LMA serve all your beverage needs since 1936! Big new proposals included a hotel in Kenmore Square, a new dorm at Northeast- ern, and a campus-consolidation plan for Simmons University with a high-rise Enjoy our year-long wine sale. dorm. One Kenmore would create a 29-story, 391-room hotel on a new half-acre pub- Take 20% off any 6 bottles of wine lic plaza. The project proposes changing the square’s traffic pattern significantly (sale items excluded). by creating new access lanes between the hotel and the Kenmore Tower apart- ments. DELIVERY AVAILABLE • 617-536-0164 Northeastern unveiled plans for a 26-story tower on a surface parking lot at 301 HUNTINGTON AVENUE Tremont Street and Melnea Cass Boulevard, near . It would house Across from the YMCA and just steps from the Green Line Northeastern students, but they would sign leases with an independent operator. FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020 | 3 One Kenmore Hotel Proposal Clears More Hurdles BY ALISON PULTINAS In his memo to the BPDA board, project A community benefit listed in the memo said it pushed too far out into Commonwealth t the Dec. 12 Boston Planning and manager Tim Czerwienski described the land is a $10,000 contribution to the Esplanade Avenue, disrupting the alignment of the street Development Agency (BPDA) exchange—approximately 7,551 square feet Association, due on expiration of the 30-day wall. They wanted the width of new road public hearing for the Kenmore would be transferred to the City for use in appeal period after the Dec. 12 vote, provided reduced to no more than three lanes wide, and Hotel, supporters lined up first, public ways, including a portion of the new that no appeal has been filed. preferably two. The current proposal calls for followed by union representatives, Impact road and a portion of the new public plaza. In Earlier in the month, the Boston Civic three 12-foot lanes instead of the original four A return, the City would transfer its fee interest Design Commission (BCDC) voted to approve 10-foot lanes. Advisory Group members Parker James and Pam Beale, Esplanade Association in approximately 5,605 square feet of land to the hotel, but only after considerable back and The Public Improvement Commission Mark Development, the proponent. According forth. The commission chair, Andrea Leers, chaired by Chris Osgood, Chief of Streets, to his memo, fair market values will be asked for a second motion when the project has final say on the road design and drop- calculated for all land transactions. The vote was voted down the first time. off parking plan. That hearing has yet to be on the land exchange will take place at a BCDC commissioners expressed strong scheduled. future BPDA hearing. concern about the building’s placement, and Alison Pultinas lives in Mission Hill.

Ice as Nice: Skating Rink Opens at 401 Park

Diagram of the proposed traffic plan representatives, and staff and board members from the organization Livable Streets. Scott Englander of Brookline and Larry Field of the Smart Growth Alliance praised consultant Jeff Speck’s plan, a rerouted traffic pattern that creates an island for the new hotel and half-acre plaza. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMUELS & ASSOCIATES Alexandra Gross, representing the Kenmore Tower Corporation’s board of directors, announced that group’s their support for the project after several months of negotiations. Kenmore Tower, at 566 Comm. Ave., abuts the project site on the west. Past controversies—the size of the hotel and its impacts on co-op residents, such as emissions from new traffic passing closer to their building, and loss of views and light for residents of east-facing apartments— apparently were no longer a concern for Gross and the co-op. BPDA Commissioner Ted Landsmark asked why the architects for the 29-story hotel weren’t presenting the project but had desig- nated Speck, a nationally known urban design- er, as the primary speaker. Wes Walker from On Dec. 16, a highly anticipated skating rink opened at 401 Park, formerly the Landmark Center. The rink, built by Studio Gang, the Chicago-based architecture Samuels & Associates, covers 6,000 square feet and will be open seven days a week. Skaters can bring their own firm, then stood up to answer Landsmark’s skates or rent them on site. Samuels said the rink will offer ice skating lessons every Saturday at 10am. questions about wind and shadows. 4 | FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020

How to Keep Your Recycling From Going to Waste BY BROOKE NASH where they wrap around sorting equipment and shut down the sorting hile recent news stories about recycling might have you line. Workers have to manually cut the bags off the equipment—a dan- believe otherwise, the answer is an emphatic no, recy- gerous and time-consuming job. This happens multiple times a day at Serving the Fenway, Kenmore Square, cling is not a wasted effort. The cans, bottles, and paper the recycling facility in Charlestown, where Boston’s recyclables go for Audubon Circle, upper Back Bay, lower you put in your recycling bin are part of an important sorting. (But you can still recycle those bags. See the box below.) Roxbury, Prudential, Mission Hill, and supplyW chain that returns used materials to the manufacturing sector to The other worst offenders? Recyclables in plastic bags (these Longwood since 1974 make new products and packaging in the U.S. and overseas. are pulled from the sorting line and thrown away), food and liquids, FENWAY NEWS ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS But what you put in your recycling bin does matter, now more clothing, and “tanglers” such as wire, garden hoses, rope, and string Mary Ann Brogan • Steve Chase • Helen Cox than ever. In 2018, the Chinese government imposed a ban on the lights. None of these items belong in your recycling bin. Ruth Khowais • Alison Pultinas • Steve Wolf import of most recycled paper and unsorted plastics from the U.S. and Simple guidelines for becoming a smarter recycler EDITOR: Kelsey Bruun Europe. Known as “National Sword”, the ban was a wake-up call to • Empty and rinse all food and beverage containers. DESIGN/PRODUCTION MANAGER: Steve Wolf the recycling industry. For the previous two decades, almost half the • Remove all plastic and styrofoam packing from cardboard boxes Alison Barnet, Mary Ann Brogan, recyclables collected in the U.S. were sold to mills in China, where they WRITERS: before recycling. Will Brownsberger, Helen Cox, Tracey Cusick, Guest Opinion were converted into packaging • Ignore the recycling symbol that’s on most plastic items—it does Jose da Silva, Taylor Driscoll, John Engstrom, for the myriad consumer goods NOT mean it’s recyclable. Stan Everett, Lisa Fay, Marie Fukuda, that China exports to the U.S. each year. The Chinese recycling mills • For plastic items, shape is the best rule: If it’s a bottle, jar, jug, or tub, Elizabeth Gillis, Katherine Greenough, Steve accepted low quality material and using cheap labor, sorted out the recycle it! Otherwise, put it in the trash. Harnish, Parker James, Shraddha Kakade, Ruth Khowais, Shirley Kressel, Kristen good from the bad. Until they decided they’d had enough. • Consult the online “Recyclopedia” for recycling advice on over 500 National Sword caused a global disruption in the secondary Lauerman, Joanne McKenna, Jiancheng Mo, items. Find it at RecycleSmartMA.org (and follow RecycleSmartMA Letta Neely, Susan Povak, Michael Prentky, materials market. The oversupply of scrap paper and plastic caused on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to learn more about recycling). their value to plummet. Markets in Southeast Asia stepped in to buy at Camille Platt, Alison Pultinas, Mallory Rohrig, • Spread the word to friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers about Matti Kniva Spencer, Susannah Sudborough, low prices, while demanding higher quality, cleaner material. good recycling practices. Mat Thall, Chris Viveiros, Steve Wolf And that’s where each of us comes in. Over the years, many of us Keeping the bad stuff out of our recycling bins means the good PHOTOGRAPHERS: Steve Chase, Patrick became “wishful recyclers,” putting items in the recycling bin that we stuff gets recycled. It also ensures we’re supporting a supply chain of O’Connor, Matti Kniva Spencer, Steve Wolf hoped would be recycled. Our recycling habits became a little sloppy. recycled materials for the manufacturing economy, while conserving CALENDAR: Ruth Khowais, Alison Pultinas, And quite frankly, most of us simply didn’t know there was a problem. resources and protecting our environment. The silver lining to National Steve Wolf The most common mistakes Sword is that for the first time in decades, major investments in U.S. PROOFREADERS: Steve Chase, Ruth Khowais, We asked the operators of Massachusetts’ Material Recovery Fa- recycling mills are being made to fill the void that China left. That Alison Pultinas cilities (MRF)—where household recyclables are sorted into separate means jobs and economic growth right here at home. All the more BUSINESS MANAGER: Janet Malone streams before they’re sold to end-markets—what the biggest problem reason to feel good about recycling. DISTRIBUTION: Della Gelzer, Aqilla Manna, materials are. Top of the list is plastic grocery bags. That’s right—even Brooke Nash is Branch Chief for Municipal Waste Reduction Lauren Dewey Platt, Reggie Wynn though most display a recycling symbol, they do NOT belong in your at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and household recycling bin. Why not? Plastic bags wreak havoc at MRFs leads the Recycle Smart MA statewide recycling education initiative. The Fenway News is published monthly by the Fenway News Association, Inc., a community-owned corporation dedicated to community journalism. If you would like to WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE PLASTIC BAGS volunteer to write, edit, photograph, lay out, hile Boston’s plastic bag ban and plastic “pillows” from shipping boxes. the shrink and pallet wrap from the distribute, or sell advertising on commission, please contact us at means fewer plastic bags in (Again, to prevent problems at the sorting “back of house” and sent to a recycling The Fenway News, our homes, there’s still a lot of facility, don’t put them in your recycle bin.) company. Trex, one of the largest plastic PO Box 230277, Astor Station W“flexible film plastic” that can be recycled Remove paper receipts and make sure bags bag recyclers in the U.S., makes composite Boston, MA 02123 at most supermarkets, as well as Target are clean and dry. For drop-off locations decking and lumber out of plastic bags [email protected] and Whole Foods. and a list of all the plastic film that you can and reclaimed wood. Their average www.fenwaynews.org This includes bread bags, produce recycle, visit plasticfilmrecycling.org. 500-square-foot deck contains 140,000 bags, plastic wrap from toilet paper and The plastic bags and wrap that you recycled plastic bags! Subscriptions $30/year paper towels, Ziploc bags, bubble wrap, return to stores will be bundled with —BROOKE NASH ($20 for limited income) ©2019 FENWAY NEWS ASSOCIATION, INC.

“Comforting the afflicted and Could Somerville’s Example Solve Mission Hill’s Problem? afflicting the comfortable.” BY ALISON PULTINAS the City’s Inspectional Services Department also cited the lack of The founders of The Fenway News adopted nother development saga: zoning attorney Patrick Mahoney maneuverability as a zoning violation. Attorney Mahoney thought that this motto to express their mission of addressed a December meeting of the Mission Hill was a reach, however, and called it “subjective zoning.” exposing and opposing the dangers the Community Alliance. His clients, real estate investors Janice Mahoney complained about having to make presentations at too neighborhood faced in the early 1970s— rampant arson, predatory landlords, and Michael Ye, are seeking to pave the back yard of a many community meetings for such a small project. He had previously and a destructive urban renewal plan. If Aformer two-family, now a three-family property, at 17-19 Sunset St. presented at an official abutters’ sidewalk gathering organized by the the original motto no longer fits today’s They want to create five parking spaces, but need variances from the Mayor’s Office, then to a committee from Mission Hill Neighborhood Fenway, we remain committed to its spirit City’s Zoning Board, hence Housing Services, and will return to the Alliance when they vote next of identifying problems and making our Guest Opinion the presentation. Mahoney month. A lot of meetings, but creating a parking lot from what was neighborhood a better and safer place to live. said that properties next door lawn and trees has consequences for neighborhoods with small yards. and further down the street had already paved their yards, so the Ye’s Somerville passed zoning restrictions that require residential application conforms with the neighborhood. properties with one- to three-family family homes to have at least > FREQUENCY < The side yard is too narrow for a legal driveway; the back 35 percent of their lot covered by pervious surfaces, not concrete or The Fenway News reaches distribution sites lot slopes down towards shade trees in the yard of 48 Parker Hill asphalt. on the Friday closest to the first of each Ave.; and almost no green space would remain for the tenants at Could this be a precedent for Boston? month. Our next issue will appear Alison Pultinas lives in Mission Hill. Friday, January 31. 17-19 Sunset after the proposed paving. The plans examiner at > DEADLINE < The deadline for letters, news items, and ads for our next issue is Former Gulf Station’s Neglect Friday, January 24. Makes Neighborhood Look Bad TO THE EDITOR: Following the purchase by Star Market The Fenway News will hold a wine-buying class and wine-tasting of the Gulf station at the intersection A Toast in the New Year When you’re of Boylston Street and Park Drive, the in March at Huntington Wine & Spirits on Huntington Avenue. remaining building has been left to become (A tip of our hat to owner Steve Rubin for his generous offer to host.) a neighborhood eyesore. The former locked out, Gulf/Dunkin Donuts is decaying, to the We’ll have more details in our next issue, but don’t plan anything detriment for the second week of March until you hear from us! call us. Letter to of other establishments the editor in the area. (See Mass Ave Lock our November COMMUNITY 125 St. Botolph St. issue for a photo of illegal dumping on the site.—Editor) meetings 617-247-9779 Since this is an entryway to the Fenway, WED, JAN. 8 & 22 Fenway Fair Foods, 3-5pm, with BPDA staff to identify project impacts Star should be held to a higher level of Family-owned and -operated. Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, 165 Park and recommend offsetting community 40 years and counting. accountability in maintaining this property. Dr. Get a bag of fresh seasonal fruits and benefits. The proposal for Phase 2 of this Our public officials should take an active vegetables for $2. Everyone welcome! To project would replace housing with 692,000 Lockouts  Master Key Systems role in resolving this problem and not allow learn more, contact Helen Murphy, hmur- square feet of lab space and associated office High-Security Key Systems this to continue for an indefinite amount of [email protected], (617) 267-4637 x21. and support spaces; includes 48,400 SF of time. Mailbox Keys Keys Made by Code TUE, JAN. 21 Fenway Center Citizens ground-floor retail; and reduces parking CHARLES MARTEL spaces from 1,290 to 790. 6pm, Fenway Door Closers  Deadbolts WEST FENS Advisory Committee meeting. Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) members work Community Center, 1282 Boylston St. FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020 | 5 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT A LOT HAPPENED IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS SINCE THE LAST ISSUE, INCLUDING... Accident Led to Spring Fire in Phragmites The Globe reports that CarGurus, an online market for used cars, will On March 28, a brushfire in the phragmites injured and hospitalized one man. Concerns consolidate three existing Cambridge offices at the office tower that will from residents led to an investigation by the Boston Fire Department. According to rise on Air Rights Parcel 12 at Mass. Ave. and Boylston. Andrew Bettinelli from Sen. Will Brownsberger’s office, who followed up on residents’ Previously, Dutch hotel chain Citizen M had announced that concerns, the victim was interviewed at the hospital and stated that he started the fire to it would occupy the parcel’s smaller building at Mass.Ave./ stay warm. He awoke to find his legs burning. No foul play was involved and no accelerants Newbury St. a The BPDA board gave its blessing to the were found; the fire was an accident. IC MI controversial sale of Harriet Tubman House at Mass. Submit Comments on Two Major Area Developments Ave. and Columbus Ave. for redevelopment into market- • The BPDA has extended through until Jan. 10 the public comment period for rate condos. United South End Settlements (USES) will Northeastern University’s proposed 29-story dorm and academic building at 840 Y use proceeds from the sale to stabilize its finances after Columbus Ave., next to Renaissance Park. Send comments to Gerald Autler at Gerald. running multiyear operating deficits. USES plans move its operations to a [email protected]. site it owns on nearby Rutland Street. Community activists had fought the • Public comments on the State’s environmental review of the change in plans for Fenway Center Phase 2 (Parcel 7 Air Rights project west of Kenmore Square) are due Jan. 13 at sale, arguing that the City sold the land to USES at a below-market price in the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office. Send comments to Anne Canaday the 1970s to make it possible for the group to establish a social services at [email protected]. In summary, instead of housing, Meredith Management, center. They said that low-income families in the neighborhood needed the developer, proposes to build a life sciences R&D building. The project falls under easy access to those services because the area has experienced significant state regulations that require review of any development that generates 3,000 or more gentrification over the last two decades. . a The Mass Housing Partnership daily trips or creates 300 or more parking spaces. The proposed change would decrease garage capacity from 1,290 to 790 spaces. Also, the proposed change would exceed a new released a report on development density around every MBTA rail, trolley, and threshold for wastewater. Project Phases 1 and 2 first won approval in December 2009. subway station, and the Green Line’s Symphony stop in the East Fens led the pack with 80 units per acre within a quarter mile. Hynes Station clocked in at Renovation and Expansion Affect Agencies in Mission Hill just under 50 units per acre, and Kenmore logged 39.3. Lansdowne Station Cambridge’s Possible Project, Mark and Becky Levin’s teenage entrepreneur program, held led commuter-rail stops with 23.7 units per acre, a number that will likely rise an open house on Dec. 12 at its new home at 31 Heath St., once a 19th-century brewery on the back of Mission Hill. Architects from Utile are at work converting the Family Services with completion of several proposed and approved development projects of Greater Boston offices into an Innovation Center to house the group’s expansion. nearby, including the Kenmore Center. To see the report and use the related Meanwhile, Sociedad Latina will temporarily relocate staff and programs across various interactive map, visit www.mhp.net/news and click on the “Dec. 17” link. a facilities in the neighborhood when it begins the major renovation at its 1530 Tremont St. Longtime Fenway News contributor Alison Barnet has published a new book base in January. of South End history, Once Upon a Neighborhood. a Globe theater critic $10M Renovation Begins at Countway Medical Library Don Aucoin praised a new crop of talented performers coming out of Boston Harvard’s Countway Medical Library, designed by Hugh Stubbins, is getting an interior colleges in 2019. Among his name-checks: Quentin Nguyen-Duy, a senior at and exterior redo. Plans include adding an entrance on Huntington Avenue, bridging the BU, and Katrina Z Pavao, a Boston Conservatory MFA who “stole the show” as plaza-level moat. This will mark a new beginning for the institution, as the medical area Audrey in Lyric Stage’s Little Shop of Horrors. b cautiously connects with its immediate neighborhood. Permits were issued in November to construction firm Lee Kennedy for work valued at $10 million. Shepley Bulfinch is the architect of record, and plans include a Harvard COOP retail shop and small cafe. BPDA INCOME-RESTRICTED Fenway Beer Shop Wins Spot on National Top-Ten List RENTAL OPPORTUNITY Website hopculture.com named Fenway Beer Shop, at 98 Van Ness St., to its 2019 list of ten best bottle shops. “[N]ot long ago, this was the local Craft Beer Cellar, before the chain 839 , Boston, MA 02215 (Fenway/Audubon Circle) www.839BeaconLottery.com lost traction in Boston after closing up shop in Fort Point and Roslindale; the new moniker makes it instantly recognizable even to folks from out of town. That’s good luck for them. 6 INCOME-RESTRICTED RENTAL UNITS The name has changed, but the selection and staffing knowledge hasn’t. Best of all, it’s a # OF UNITS UNIT SIZE RENT % AMI cost savings. Even a single beer at a Sox game costs a fortune. Spend your cash here instead 2 Studio $1,125 70% for more beer, and better beer, than you’ll get at the MLB’s oldest ballpark.” 3 1-Bedroom* $1,318 70% Simmons Campus Consolidation Plan Advances 1 2-Bedroom* $1,492 70% The One Simmons project advances. On Dec. 4, the project was presented to the Boston *Includes one unit built out for persons with mobility impairments. Civic Design Commission for the first time. The Commissioners praised the efficiency of MINIMUM** AND MAXIMUM INCOME LIMITS the campus-consolidation plan, but questioned its impact on the central quad. Simmons MINIMUM HOUSEHOLD plans to build a 16- to 19-story dorm with dining and athletic facilities, including a pool. # OF BEDROOMS YEARLY INCOME SIZE 70% AMI Studio $32,750 1 $55,550 1-bedroom $39,540 2 $63,450 2-bedroom $44,760 3 $71,400 CORRECTION ASSET LIMIT*** 4 $79,300 A photo caption accompanying John Engstrom’s piece last month on $75,000 5 $85,650 Odyssey Opera’s Maria, regina d’Inghilterra refered to a different opera. 6 $92,000 We regret the error. ** Minimum limits do not apply to households that receive housing assistance (e.g., Section 8, VASH, MRVP). ***Asset limit does not include retirement savings but does include real estte. Households may request an application be sent by email or mail from Monday, January 6, 2020, to Wednesday, January 15, 2020, through the following methods: • To complete the application online, please visit http://bit.ly/839beacon. Dashboard • To have a hard copy of the application sent to your mailing address,  TRASH & RECYCLING PICK-UP please call 781-992-5303. • Applications can also be picked up in person • BACK BAY: Trash and recycling on Monday and Thursday on the following dates and times: • FENWAY: Trash and recycling on Tuesday and Friday Monday, January 6, 2020 10am–2pm • MISSION HILL: Trash and recycling on Tuesday and Friday Tuesday, January 7, 2020 10am–2pm Thursday, January 9, 2020 7am–3pm Friday, January 10, 2020 10am–2pm Saturday, January 11, 2020 10am–2pm Application Pick-up Location: Your Care, Your Community Lobby—839 Beacon Street, Fenway, MA 02215

Applications can be submitted online by January 22, 2020. Completed, printed, and signed paper applications can also be mailed to Maloney Properties. Postmarked no later than January 22, 2020. Maloney Properties, Inc. Attention: 839 Beacon Lottery 27 Mica Lane, Wellesley MA 02481 Selection by lottery. Asset, use and occupancy restrictions apply. Looking for world class health care Preference for disabled households for ADA units. Preference for Boston residents. Preference for households with at least one person per bedroom. in the Fenway neighborhood? For more info, language assistance, or to make a request for reasonable accommodations, please call Maloney Properties at 781-992-5303 (U.S. Relay 711) or e-mail [email protected] We’ve got you covered.

FENWAY HEALTH | 1340 Boylston Street | Boston, MA02215 Equal Housing Opportunity EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY 617.267.0900 | fenwayhealth.org COMM-531 6 | FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020 Getting Off the Couch to Exercise Can Help Prevent Dementia BY KATHERINE LE quality of life, unfortunately.” protect them from developing dementia. Furthermore, a ementia is commonly associated with memory While Alzheimer’s has no cure, scientists are actively balance of multiple moderate physical activities might be more loss and decreased ability in decision making. looking for ways to slow its progression. For example, efficient in preventing dementia. According to the Centers for Disease Control researchers from the Framingham Heart Study looked at “This is exciting news,” said John, a resident of Mission (CDC), dementia is not part of the normal aging the correlation between physical activity, brain volume, and Hill who preferred to omit his last name. “I’m glad to learn process; however, age is known to be the primary risk factor the risk of developing dementia. The results of their analysis that today, and it encourages me to exercise myself.” D appeared in the Journal of Gerontology Medical Sciences. Physical activity is already known to play a role in for dementia. Among the causes of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease is known as a common one, affecting one in every 10 Out of 236 elderly adults who developed dementia after preventing cardiovascular diseases. Now, studies have adults 65 and older. According to the CDC, five million new a ten-year follow up, 188, or 80 percent, had Alzheimer’s. The shown it can help prevent other conditions like dementia and diagnoses of Alzheimer’s are identified each year. researchers found that patients who were less physically active Alzheimer’s in older adults. Each individual, especially in the “It is sad to see so many elderly patients are being faced greater risk of developing dementia later in life. older population, can benefit immensely from adopting an affected by Alzheimer’s,” said Michael Truong, a “It is true, and it seems that regular exercise may help to active lifestyle and lessening sedentary activities. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences slow the cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s,” said Truong. Katherine Le is a pre-med student at Massachusetts student who volunteers with the Alzheimer’s Association. “It The authors of this study suggest that older adults may College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. is a disease with no cure and these patients suffer very low only need a small amount of daily physical activity to help

(RE)INTRODUCING KAY NIELSEN, LOST 20TH-CENTURY ARTIST BY STEVE WOLF suggests sources as far-ranging as that leaves them looking androgynous her six stepsons into swans, she he moment you step into “Kay medieval manuscripts, Scandinavian and world-weary. Explanatory text watches them take flight into an inky Nielsen’s Enchanted Vision” at folk art, Persian miniatures, Japanese leaves no woke stone unturned: for an sky. the Museum of Fine Arts you prints, Gustav Klimt, and the meticulous illustration for “The Twelve Dancing In 1936, Nielsen moved to see that the Danish illustrator geometric patterning of Islamic art. Princesses,” it cites a prince’s gender California to design sets for a and stage designer knew his The show includes several works fluidity and notes that the only production directed by a friend from T character of color in the image plays art history. Active in the first half of the Danish theater. He stayed on the 20th century, Nielsen developed the villain. in Los Angeles, landing a job with a refined style that seamlessly mixed East of the Disney Studios, where he developed visual traditions from around the world. Sun and West of the the concept for the “Night On Bald The compact show, which runs through Moon—Old Norse Mountain/Ave Maria” sequence Jan. 20, focuses on the original art Folk Tales followed in in Fantasia. The exhibit includes Nielsen created to illustrate fairy tales 1914. Its illustrations his sketch of the winged demon and a smattering of work intended for IMAGE: MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS show a fully formed, Chernabog, who calls up an army of other formats. decidedly modern ghouls and demons for the frenzied At the end of the 19th century, graphic sensibility: midnight conclave that opens the technological advances gave printers large fields of white sequence. Even at this small scale— unprecedented control over the quality or black frame small like almost all images in the show, it of color images on paper. Magazines, areas of almost measures less than 24x18 inches—the posters, and illustrated books obsessive surface demon can give you the creeps. proliferated, driving a demand for patterning. The large Disney ultimately fired Nielsen, talented illustrators. Spotting Nielsen’s unworked areas likely because he rebelled against the work in a London gallery in 1912—he’d guide your eye to studio’s famously regimented work just finished studying art in Paris—an the subject, whose culture. Remaining in California, he English publisher hired Nielsen to intricate patterning turned to mural painting and teaching, illustrate a book of fairy tales. Lavish pulls you into the but died in poverty in 1957. Yet his work volumes, ostensibly for children, image. “Young lived on to reach millions around the enjoyed broad popularity among Woman Embracing world: Conceptual drawings he created cultivated adults in Europe and the US a Hawthorne Bush” for a Hans Christian Andersen story during the period. spreads a snow- served as the basis for Ariel in the 1989 Despite its focus on fairy tales, covered ground Disney movie The Little Mermaid. the MFA show starts with The Book beneath a stippled Steve Wolf lives in the West Fens. of Death—about as far from happily- sky and pale pink ever-after as you can get. In art school, sun. A woman at the Nielsen had created a suite of dramatic center, wrapped in a BOSTON SEEKS black-and-white drawings. The show sinuous black cloak, includes ten, following the tragic cradles a branch of ARTISTS TO French clown Pierrot as he grapples the hawthorn, bare HELP UPGRADE with his lover’s death. He struggles except for lavish Nielsen’s illustration for “The Six Swans,” includes many white blossoms POLICIES, through drinking, depression, and of his trademark design moves: dramatic composition, despair, mourning the dying woman delicately delineated PROCESSES stylization that recalls medieval art, and areas of near- against the black of as the figure of Death itself smirks obsessive surface patterning. through a nearby window. her clothes. With little he Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture invites artists The suite displays the clear from this first commission, both full- color in the image, her gold-tinted hair in any discipline to submit influence of Aubrey Beardsley, color and monotone, that appeared takes on added visual heft. T qualifications for joining a year- an immensely talented illustrator in the 1913 collection In Powder & In all, Nielsen illustrated five long cohort of artists-in-residence. whose well-known drawings came Crinoline: Old Fairy Tales Retold by Sir books between 1913 and 1930. World “[They will] implement projects that to symbolize the English Aesthetic Arthur Quiller-Couch. Nielsen sizes his War I disrupted the market for imagine and test new approaches to movement of the 1890s and—thanks characters heroically and twists them illustrated luxury books—and every City of Boston policies, processes, to his collaboration with Oscar Wilde— into baroque poses to increase their other market—sending Nielsen back and procedures with the help of carried a strong whiff of eroticism and visual drama. Men sport powdered wigs to Copenhagen, where he supported various City of Boston departments. tragedy (Beardsley’s own death at and thigh-high boots; women strut in himself by designing theater sets and This, in turn, helps to create a 25 added to their tragic appeal). But sumptuous gowns; cherubs flit about, costumes, a natural turn for the child of stronger and more equitable city,” Nielsen looked well beyond popular wearing not only their own pint-sized an actress and a director. said Mayor Marty Walsh in a press stylists for inspiration. His work wigs but also elaborate eye makeup He returned to books in 1923 with Fairy Tales by Hans Anderson. release. A restrained palette and elaborate The City will present a webinar floral borders hint strongly at Chinese on the submittal process on Jan. New BAA Building Will Get Public Art and Japanese prints. A fourth book, 8 at 6pm. Written responses to questions are due Jan. 10 at 5pm. BY ALISON PULTINAS Hansel & Gretel and other stories by the Brothers Grimm (1925) saw him return Applications are due Jan. 22 at 5pm. ew public art will sit at the corner of Ipswich and Van Ness streets, a surprise to stronger colors and illustrations Artists chosen will receive bonus from the Boston Arts Academy reconstruction. A percent-for-art composed almost as stage sets. The a stipend of $30,000 and up to program administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture issued a show includes designs he made for both $10,000 for materials. The City request for proposals last fall for two sites, one inside the new building books. wants experienced artists, cultural N($300,000 budget), and one for the sidewalk site ($200,000 budget). Red Magic: A Collection of practitioners, and/or cultural The RFP mentions the existing public art outside : “Teammates” by the World’s Best Fairy Tales from workers working in any medium to Antonio Tobias Mendez and bronze tributes to Carl Yastrzemski, by Antonio Tobias All Countries (1930), gave Nielsen apply. The program excludes full- Mendez, and Ted Williams, by Franc Talarico, visible from the school’s front door. The encouraged more references to time City employees, artists who future artwork may create a dialogue with the sculpture across the street. wide-ranging artistic traditions. In have already led a project funded by The artist-selection committee includes school personnel, students, City staff, an illustration for “The Six Swans,” a the program, and recipients of the local art professionals, and a member of the Boston Art Commission. Project Manager villainous queen wears a spiky crown Artist Fellowship Award. Sarah Rodrigo said the review process has just begun, although committee meetings and robe patterned with thorny vines, You can find more details aren’t public; she said the interior site drew 15 applications and the outdoor site, 8. all the points telegraphing her cold, at boston.gov/arts-and-culture/ Alison Pultinas lives in Mission Hill. unfeeling nature. Having transformed boston-artists-residence-air. FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020 | 7

At MFA, Nubia Steps Out of Ancient Egypt’s Shadow BY RUTH KHOWAIS pottery, sculpture, and metalwork—represent exhibit is to confront past misinterpretations of sculptures and inscriptions, he concluded that etween 1913 and 1932, the Museum thousands of years of Nubian history. The Nubian civilization and to consider why Nubia Kerma was an Egyptian outpost in Nubia, of Fine Arts (MFA) and Harvard jewelry features glazed quartz pendants, is less understood than neighboring Egypt. ruled by an Egyptian governor. He attributed University conducted numerous gold necklaces with lapis lazuli or carnelian, The MFA notes that Reisner, who oversaw the fine-quality artifacts to Egyptian influence archaeological excavations at sites earrings, bracelets, and amulets found excavations, used cutting-edge techniques and but identified mundane objects as Nubian. We in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, when in tombs in Nuri. One notable item is an kept meticulous records, but like a number now know that Reisner had it almost entirely B elaborate collar of electrum, an alloy of gold of Egyptologists in the early 20th century, he backward. Contemporary archaeologists have both countries were under British colonial control. and silver, that contains hinges, removable believed that Africans south of Egypt were shown that an army from Kerma attacked In 1913, George Reisner, a curator of pins, and a carved scarab. incapable of developing highly advanced Egypt, looted sanctuaries and brought back civilizations. objects, including the dramatic statue of Lady At Kerma, according to notes at the ex- Sennuwy, for souvenirs and status symbols. hibit, this prejudice led him to misinterpret Ruth Khowais lives in the West Fens. his finds. When he began to uncover Egyptian “Ancient Nubia Now” runs through Jan. 20.

PHOTO: RUTH KHOWAIS Kate Costello: The Tip of the Tongue PHOTO COURTESY OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY

The exhibit “Tip of the Tongue” highlights Kate Costello’s ongoing interest in the abstraction of visual and spoken languages. With a practice rooted Artifacts in the “Ancient Nubia Now “exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. in drawing and encompassing sculpture and photography, Costello charges her imagery to perform its own grammar, orchestrating a poetic narrative that is deeply legible yet completely allusive—much like a phrase at the tip The sculptures are quite dramatic—a Egyptian art at the MFA, won permission of one’s tongue. The Tip of the Tongue features drawing, sculpture, and well-preserved full-length statue of Lady from the Sudanese government to undertake photography from the past 15 years alongside a new, site-specific wall Sennuwy, carved in granodiorite, dates from excavations in Northern Sudan on behalf of a drawing for the SMFA. An opening reception and artist talk takes place on 1971 to 1926 BCE. A stele bears the longest Harvard/MFA expedition. Jan. 16, 6-8pm. The exhibit will continue at the Barbara and Steve Grossman known inscription in the still untranslated At Kerma, the first site excavated, the Gallery and Anderson Auditorium, 230 The Fenway, through April 16. team uncovered (although they did not realize Meroitic language. Numerous busts depict it at the time) a Nubian culture previously Egyptian and Nubian royal figures. Funeral unknown in the West. In 1916, the expedition beds are elaborate, decorated with inlaid ivory, moved to Napata, in the heart of the ancient real and mythical creatures, and placed on kingdom of Kush. Across the river at Nuri, a legs carved to resemble birds. Pottery ranges pyramid field contained the pyramids of 12 from alabaster vessels to canopic jars, used to house the internal organs of those buried in LAST CALL kings and numerous queens of Nubia. Nubia, south of Egypt in what is now the tombs. Don’t just sit there—catch KAY NIELSEN’S Sudan, was a flourishing and magnificent One of the most intriguing sections of these exhibits in the Fenway ENCHANTED VISION kingdom filled with riches and art. The the exhibit is a room filled with shawabties, before they close this month: Nubians built major cities, temples, palaces, funeral figures that depict their owners as Nielsen’s interpretations of and more pyramids than the Egyptians. mummies carrying hoes and wearing bags • ENDING 1/10 classic fairy tales rank among Nubian kings and queens controlled vast for produce on their backs. The miniature the most celebrated book il- empires and trade networks, rivalling, and mummies, carved out of faience, travertine, or ABIGAIL ADAMS: lustrations of the 20th cen- even for a brief time conquering, their more serpentinite, were carefully placed standing LIFE & LEGACY tury (see page 6). The MFA famous neighbors to the north. Yet for many against the walls of the burial chamber, The Massachusetts Historical showcases more than 45 dra- people today, according to exhibit notes, this surrounding the coffin and possibly serving as Society has staged a series matic watercolors, drawings, powerful history is little known. sentinels. of pop-up exhibits about and illustrated books from a In an exhibition that runs through Jan. 20, To enrich the exhibit, the MFA has Abigail Adams over the long-overlooked 20th-century the MFA attempts to correct the impression added video interviews with a biological past few months. The series anthropologist, an Egyptologist, a young master. that Nubian culture was in any way inferior to title, “Remember Abigail,” that of pharaonic Egypt. Sudanese American, a photographer, and a comes from Adams’s famous MAKE BELIEVE More than 400 works from the professor. This exhibition at the MFA museum’s collection—including jewelry, It should be noted that a focus of this admonition to her husband to “Remember the Ladies” while brings together five artists helping adopt the Declaration who stage fantastical scenes of Independence. This final for the camera to address A DOUBLE THREAT IN THE ARTS display of the series explores social and cultural issues, Adams’s legacy and explore including the role of women how she herself viewed it. in the Middle East, climate change, and existential fears • ENDING 1/20 of loneliness and loss.

PHOTO: RUTH KHOWAIS ANCIENT NUBIA NOW IN THE COMPANY This exhibition of jewelry, OF ARTISTS pottery, sculpture, metalwork, The Gardner Museum surveys and more from the MFA’s 25 years of its artist-in- collection challenges the residence program, which cultural assumptions made brings contemporary artists in the 20th century (see this to the museum for the better page). The rich display of art part of year and encourages and objects dispels the idea them to use the Gardner Fenway News readers may know John Engstrom as a perceptive guide to that Nubia was a backwater collection as a source of re- the performing arts, but the neighborhood resident doesn’t limit himself conquered by Egypt, offering interpretation and inspiration to cultural criticism—he paints, too. Here Engstrom stands with one of a new and more accurate for creating new art. his paintings at the opening of his “Deep Space” art exhibition, featuring understanding of Nubia’s both paintings and photographs, on view at the Fenway Community Center history and influence. through Jan. 31. 8 | FENWAY NEWS | JANUARY 2020

THIS SYMBOL INDICATES A + FREE EVENT. CALENDAR PICK OF THE MONTH program, on the theme of death, features Shostakovich’s dark 14th Symphony and Discuss ‘The Bluest Eye’ arts ENTERTAINMENT arts++ Mahler’s “Adagietto,” inspired by a near- With the death last year of Nobel laureate Toni deathJanuary experience. Sonja Tengblad, soprano, Through Mon, 1/20 Morrison last year, American letters lost a giant and Dashon Burton, baritone, are featured known both for her craft and her wisdom. Defying The terms of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s will soloists. 8pm, NEC’s Jordan Hall. Tickets barriers she faced as a woman of color, she rose famously dictated that no piece of art could $25-75. Details and tickets at https://afarcry. to prominence as a New York book editor in the be moved and no room rearranged when her org/all. 1960s and 70s, only to turn to writing herself, home became a museum. But if a museum Sat, 1/11 beginning with The Bluest Eye. On Monday, Jan. can’t change its displays, how do you keep it 6, join the Dudley Reads book club to discuss the • Boston Philharmonic conductor fresh and relevant? One strategy the Gard- book. Organized by BPL librarians, the club meets Benjamin Zander conducts regular ner Museum has adopted a program that monthly at the Frugal Bookstore in Dudley (soon brings in contemporary artists for extended classes at the Boston Public Library for INTERPRETATIONS OF to be Nubian) Square. 57 Warren St. FREE residencies at the museum to interpret young musicians, MUSIC: LESSONS FOR LIFE. the holdings and draw inspiration for new But you don’t works from it. IN THE COMPANY OF ARTISTS have to be a musician to sit in and learn at the Fenway Regal 13. Sun, 1pm and 4pm; in Seully Hall, 8 The Fenway (4th floor). surveys 25 years of the program, featuring about expressiveness, emotions, and what Wed, 7pm. Tickets $16 at the box office or at Tickets $10-15, with discounts available. seven artists who’ve held residencies at the to listen for in music. Central Branch, fathomevents.com. Visit bostonconservatory.berklee.edu/ Gardner, as well as participatory artwork, Copley Square, 10am-12pm. Details at Sun, 1/19 events for details or to buy tickets. performances, storytelling, and live portrait bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/ Mon, 1/27 + COMMUNITY drawing. Open Wed-Mon, 11am-5pm; Thu, search/index. FREE The BSO brings it short-form CONCERTS REGIONAL FINALS FOR THE 2020 11am-9pm. 25 Evans Way. For further infor- • Juan de Marcos, one of the founders of to WBUR’s CitySpace with a Boston AUGUST WILSON MONOLOGUE COMPETITION. mation, visit gardnermuseum.org. the Buena Vista Social Club, brings the program of Beethoven and Colgrass. Talk AFRO-CUBAN ALL STARS to the Berklee to the performers at a post-concert coffee/ Watch and celebrate local high schoolers Sat, 1/4 Performance Center for a rousing concert dessert reception. Tickets $20 reserved/$10 on stage performing selections from ten Looking to clear shelves at home, or turn of new works in the classical Cuban tra- general. 2pm at 890 Comm. Ave. Details and August Wilson dramas. Regional winners gift-giving misfires into something you’ll dition. 8pm, Berklee Performance Center; tickets at wbur.org. move on to nationals in New York in the love? Bring unwanted books in very good tickets $28/38/48/58. Buy at the box of- spring. The Huntington—which undertook condition to a GIANT POST-HOLIDAY BOOK fice, 136 Mass. Ave., or atwww.berklee. 1/20—Martin Luther King Day a pioneering production of Wilson’s entire SWAP at the main branch of the Boston edu/BPC/calendar. Three area institutions host programs “Pittsburgh Cycle” plays—has been a com- Public Library in Copley Square. Bring as Sun, 1/12 celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. petition sponsor for more than a decade, many books as you want, and take away Martin Luther King, Jr. along with other regional theaters across the country. 6pm at the Calderwood up to three. The City-Wide Friends of the Trident Bookstore Café redefines the term • GARDNER MUSEUM: Day of service, + Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. FREE BPL will claim any surplus books for their “culture wars” with a March Madness- with performances by artists com- bimonthly sale. 11am-3pm. style tournament involving 32 contender. mitted to social justice, a hands-on Thu, 1/30 WHO WON 2019?, The twist? In the battles service project, and a family-friendly Wed, 1/8 SOUNDSCAPE OF SPAIN: FROM FLAMENCO involve events, characters, or trends that workshop. 11am-4pm. FREE The captured cultural attention last year (think ROOTS TO FUSION features famed flamenco CUNY professor Miriam Liebman presents • MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: A day of artists Sonja Olla and Ismael Fernández and ‘THUS MUCH FOR POLITICKS’: AMERICAN Lizzo, Baby Yoda, the women’s World Cup celebratory music and art-making pianist Olivia Pérez Collellmir. The program WOMEN, DIPLOMACY, AND THE AFTERMATH OF team). The audience debates and votes on events. 10am-5pm. FREE each bracket, winnowing candidates down explores how folk traditions, flamenco, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Her Brown Bag • BOSTON CHILDREN’S CHORUS: “Still to a final champ. 338 Newbury St., second jazz, and classical influences braid together lecture focuses on Abigail Adams’s efforts I Rise” concert at Symphony Hall floor, 6-8:30pm. Details and tickets ($9) into a distinctive musical sound. 8pm, to win foreign support for the newly minted honors King with music ranging from at the store or tridentbookscafe.com/ Berklee Performance Center; tickets $10 United States while posted abroad with Duke Ellington to Stephen Sondheim. event/2020-01. advance/$15 day off. Buy at the box office, her husband in England and France. Mass. 7pm; tickets $15-25-35-50. Details at 136 Mass. Ave., or at www.berklee.edu/ Historical Society, 1154 Boylston St., 12- Fri., 1/17 bostonchildrenschorus.org. 1pm. Details at /www.masshist.org/ BPC/calendar. BOSTON CYCLISTS UNION + calendar. FREE The celebrates its Tue, 1/21 Fri, 1/31 move to 1419 Tremont St. in Mission Hill Wed, 1/8, 1/15, 1/22, & 1/29 with an OFFICE-WARMING PARTY from 5 to • SHAMARR ALLEN “epitomizes New Orleans In the LATIN AMERICAN SONG PROJECT, CLIMATE CHANGE: A COURSE FOR EVERYONE. 7pm. They’ll provide dessert and drinks music, showcasing influences in jazz, students of Latin American descent at The first part of the spring 2020 Myra (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), though you’re hip-hop, rock, funk, blues, and country.” Boston Conservatory perform vocal works Kraft Open Classroom series explores welcome to bring your own snacks and That broad palette explains why artists + honoring their heritage. At Seully “Understanding Our Changing World, ” a libations. For more substantive fare, BCU like Willie Nelson, Lennie Kravitz, and Hall, 8 The Fenway. 8 pm. FREE. course intended to promote climate change encourages ordering takeout from an area Galactic (among others) have sought Fri, 1/31 & Sat, 2/1 education, resilience, and action. 6pm restaurant to show the new neighbors Allen out as a collaborator. Red Room at + RESPECT: A BOSTON ARTS ACADEMY Northeastern University West Village that bikes mean business. FREE Café 939 at 939 Boylston Street. Tickets In TRIBUTE TO ARETHA FRANKLIN, + F, Room 20. FREE Sat, 1/18 $12 advance/$15 day of. Find more info at academy www.berklee.edu/cafe939. musicians, dancers, actors, filmmakers, Thu, 1/9 • Anne Boyd Rioux joins Pulitzer Prize- • The GRAND OPENING OF BU’S HOWARD fashion designers, and visual artists winning author Megan Marshall in a THURMAN CENTER FOR COMMON GROUND FOUR WOMEN celebrate Aretha Franklin’s impact on The Gardner Museum hosts conversation about the long reach of STORYTELLERS will include tours and a public reception. R&B and gospel music as well as her as part of the “In the Compa- Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, based ny of Artists” exhibit. Of the four, the most For decades known as the “Peter Fuller work related to social activism. Tickets on Rioux’s recent book MEG, JO, BETH, AMY: building,” the former car showroom $15 adults/$10 students and seniors. famous is Gcina Mhlophe, a South African THE STORY OF LITTLE WOMEN AND WHY IT most recently served as an art gallery. Visit bostonartsacademy.org/respect to poet, actor, freedom fighter, director, and STILL MATTERS. WBUR CitySpace, 890 author, as well as a salon luminary at the Thurman, former dean of Marsh Chapel, purchase tickets. Roxbury Community Comm. Ave. $20 reserved/$10 general. was Martin Luther King’s mentor in College, Media Arts Center, 1234 Columbus museum. 7-9pm, $15. gardnermuseum.org. 2pm. Details and tickets at wbur.org. Boston but also an influential proponent Ave. 7:30pm both days; 2pm on 2/1. Fri, 1/10 • University of Notre Dame professor of non-violence in his own right. In Ingrid Rowland explores the life of 1944 Thurman co-founded the Church Run by its members, conductor-free, and Tomasso Inghirami—Vatican librarian, for the Fellowship of all Peoples, an based in Boston, the adventurous classical public speaker, renowned actor—in interdenominational and interracial ensemble A FAR CRY has won international RAPHAEL AND INGHIRAMI: CELEBRITIES congregation. Although BU has hosted acclaim since its founding in 2007. Tonight’s OF RENAISSANCE ROME. It expands on a the HTC since 1986, the new site gives it These highlights from the Fenway small exhibit that runs through January significant new visibility. 3-5pm, Community Center’s calendar are 30 and focuses on the Gardner Museum’s + 808 Commonwealth Ave. FREE free unless otherwise noted. Visit portrait of Inghirami by Raphael. 3:30pm Fri, 1/24 & Sun, 1/26 the Center at 1282 Boylston or at the Gardner. Tickets at $15/12/10 check out the full calendar at www. include museum admission. Details and Events take place at the Peterborough HANDEL + HAYDN SOCIETY launches 2020 fenwaycommunitycenter.org/ tickets at Senior Center or Fenway Community gardnermuseum.org with a concert of Mozart and Haydn, calendar JAZZ TRUMPETER TERENCE BLANCHARD Center. Find the Senior Center entrance • per- including the latter’s “Military” Symphony • Wed, 1/15 at 11am: COMMUNITY by walking into the alley between 100 forms at Berklee Performance Center. 136 and the Lord Nelson Mass. Fri. at 7:30pm; LUNCHEON. In honor of Dr. Martin and 108 Jersey St. and looking left. For Mass. Ave. 8 pm. For tickets, visit berk- Sun at 3pm, with both concerts in Luther King, Jr., the Fenway more information, call 617-536-7154. leeperformancecenterboston.boxoffice- Symphony Hall. Tickets $24-100. Details Community Center hosts a • Thu, 1/9 at 11:30am: Matti Kniva tickets.com or visit the box office. and tickets at www.handelandhaydn.org. performance of “The Struggle for Spencer’s Native American Sun, 1/19 & Wed, 1/22 Sun, 1/26 Freedom,” followed by a free hot Breakfast. meal. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS • Tue, 1/14 at 1pm: Boston 311 & It’s easy to see why Prize-winning young cellist Thomas Mesa • Mon, 1/20 at 10am: HELPING Winter Safety Presentation. took home the 1952 Oscar for best picture specializes in chamber music. For BOSTON HANDS WORKSHOP. Families are • Tue, 1/21 at 1pm: FenwayUpdates (and five others), with music by the CONSERVATORY’S STRING MASTERS SERIES, invited to celebrate MLK Day with with Fenway CDC’s Rich Giordarno Gershwins, a script by Alan Jay Lerner, and he’ll play Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a a selection of service activities and and Community Organizer Jaya one of the most famous dance sequences in Rococo Theme (op. 33) and three newly- crafts, as well as a storytime and Savita. Hollywood history—choreographed by star commissioned works. Pianist Jung-A Bang refreshments. Gene Kelly. Experience it on the big screen joins Mesa for this intimate recital. 7pm