Boston art uplifts, defies pandemic’s gloom
I don’t know about you but the misery overload is making it hard to get into the holiday spirit we all need right about now.
Coronavirus cases are soaring, and family gatherings around the Thanksgiving table are tagged as potential superspreader events. Some family members who have contracted COVID-19 are dying alone — the heartbreak is palpable.
Businesses are either struggling or have shut their doors. A rise in evictions threatens many families with homelessness, right at the start of the holidays. Exhausted first responders are bracing for another surge they’re not sure they can handle.
For some, there really isn’t a lot to be thankful for — except family.
Yes, there is good news — vaccines are on their way and we are about to have a national leadership change that’s already putting the pandemic at the top of the to-do list.
But in the meantime, most of us are worn out from this months-long morass. We need the love and comfort of family, and I believe most will be careful in our holiday interactions. It is part of the reason that the lines for testing are so long and that’s a good thing. Masks and social distancing will be a must, no doubt. But we can’t look at the picture as all doom and gloom.
There are more than a few bright lights to illuminate our spirits. Here are a few:
I have long called the Piti Theatre Company the little theater that could. It operates in Shelburne Falls and in Switzerland. Jonathan Mirin, wife Godeliève, son Ezekiel and mother Susan Kooperstein make three generations associated with this one-of-a-kind awesome family enterprise. Part of Piti’s mission is to teach kids about the wonders and the perils of nature and climate change through artistic expression. They do this through wonderful, lighthearted yet serious stories of respecting the earth and all who inhabit it, like “To Bee or Not to Bee,” staged during the early days of the disappearing bee population. That performance was a decade ago, and the planet’s in even more trouble now. I believe it is so important for young people to be engaged, educated and involved in addressing these issues because they are the generation who will inherit the earth. Recently Piti has combined art with therapy for conflict resolution for at risk teens. There is no end to the future of this wonderfully creative and inventive theater troupe.
Speaking of artistic expression with a powerful message, I have always loved public art and murals have been especially uplifting. They tell stories of people and neighborhoods and are like street museums curating the history of a neighborhood or community. I have many favorites. The “Breathe Life” series is inspiring. These works by
Rob Gibbs, aka Problak, are lyrical and whimsical. I also love the portrait of Frederick Douglass in the South End. The recent Black Lives Matter street mural has been like a salve on an open wound to Roxbury and beyond.
Great murals, as all great art, are the legacy of a creative spirit that lives on. The “Honor Roll Mural” in the South End, another longtime favorite, was created by Jameel Parker, a talented artist who died at 53 from ALS, leaving behind a young family. Kudos to United South End Settlements and New Boston Ventures, who in March determined to preserve the mural as a legacy to the artist’s family and put together a team headed by architect David Lee and Parker’s widow, Carolyn. The mural will continue to adorn the new building
Love and light and a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.