Unbearably handsome waiters glide silently through the sophisticated, black-clad crowd distributing canapes from neatly arranged trays amid high ceilings, exposed brick, and minimalist leather banquettes. Vast white expanses of wall are punctuated by bright watercolors and muted oils, while stark waist-high pedestals balance postmodern bronzes. Conversation subtly amps up as the wine flows and a duet plays flamenco music in the corner.
Seems like a pretty typical gallery opening. Except you're not in New York or LA, or even the South End. You're in East Boston.
What? Eastie?
"I was surprised when I started finding an arts scene over here," says Susana Zamos, a real estate agent and dancer who moved into the neighborhood about eight years ago. "But it turns out there are lots of talented artists of all mediums in East Boston. It's multiethnic, there are great restaurants and great views, and there's a lot of collaboration. It's kind of a perfect place for artists to be."
In the past couple of weeks two new forces have made their way onto the arts scene in Eastie: the New England Gallery of Latin American Art, which bills itself as the first for-profit Latin American gallery in Massachusetts; and the 80 Border Street Cultural Exchange Center, a nonprofit that will provide classes for children and adults, spoken-word and open-mike poetry, small musical and theater performances, and video screenings.
They are joining a burgeoning group of visual and performing artists, writers, and musicians who began moving to the area in the 1970s, and since the early '90s have been organizing into outposts that include the Atlantic Works Gallery at 80 Border St., warehouse studio space at 100 Condor St., and the Zumix arts and cultural center for young people.
Businesses are also getting into the act, with rotating "galleries" on their walls and events like spoken-word coffeehouses, and public spaces from the Harborwalk to the walkway at Constitution Beach are spiffing up with installations.
"I think we're just on the cusp of getting citywide respect," says Anna Salmeron, a photographer and visiting nurse who was one of the driving forces behind the studio and gallery building at 80 Border. "We've been fighting a sense of 'Who are you?' and so many galleries in the city. But we're right on the verge of getting an avalanche of attention for the area."
Most people think of Eastie, if they think of it at all, as a stopover for recent immigrants seeking to eventually move on up to the suburbs, or as the home of Logan International Airport.
"It's a place people have traditionally passed through and not stayed in, or not moved to purposefully but because it's affordable," says Jeannette Lazarus, a painter and a pioneer of the Eastie arts scene. "Or it's the airport, and people don't even know there's a neighborhood here. When I moved into East Boston with my husband in 1991, I remember my sister-in-law, who grew up here, was aghast. She said, 'People move out of East Boston, not into East Boston!' "
But, as Franz Israel, codirector of the new Latin American gallery, points out, more and more people are discovering the area. "You come to East Boston to have good Italian or Latino food, to see the skyline, and now, to go to an art gallery or studio," he says. "All that will bring more people to the area."
Of course, artists initially come to a neighborhood because it offers low rents for relatively large spaces. But in talking with Eastie residents and artists, "community" is a word that surfaces consistently.
Though most of the artists live in East Boston, some simply have studios here while making their homes in nearby towns like Chelsea, Revere, or Charlestown. Still, nearly all are involved in the fabric of the neighborhood, supporting or working for local businesses and regularly attending social events and community meetings. In turn, the neighborhood supports them.
"We bought the building at 80 Border St. in the spring of 2004," says Sal Columbo, development director at the East Boston Community Development Center. "There were already artists in there, and we were interested in developing gallery and studio space as a chance to benefit the community. We invested over $1 million into the building, got it up to code, and offered the artists a good deal on the rent so they would have some stability."
After the renovation, many new artists moved in, and today the building's three floors of studio space and 700-square-foot Atlantic Works gallery are the hub of East Boston's arts scene, with frequent gallery show openings and a well-attended potluck the third Thursday of every month.
"Partly because the gallery's a cooperative run by the members, rather than a commercial venture," says Anna Salmeron, "we have a real connection to each other as people and as artists. In a lot of studio buildings, you don't know the person in the space next to you. But we have dinner at each other's houses and meet for critique groups and other events. The connection we have is really valuable."
Not only are artists sometimes disconnected from one another, more often they are separated from the neighborhood, according to Kathleen Bitetti, executive director of the Artists Foundation in South Boston. "A lot of the time emerging artists are sort of underground," Bitetti says. "No one knows they're there, and no one steps up to embrace them. They're a subgroup, but that doesn't seem to be the case in East Boston. They're an integrated part of a vibrant, growing community, and the people of East Boston really support living artists."
Partly because of that support, and the word of mouth it has generated, people from places like Somerville, Salem, Brookline, Dorchester, Stoneham, Cambridge, and Brookline have been visiting East Boston, for New England Gallery of Latin American Arts' recent opening, for Open Studios in October, and for Atlantic Works shows like "Gay," "Make Lemonade," and the recent juried "Trans."
"When I come here, people already know my work but didn't want to come to East Boston," says Moni Oolyonghai, a painter with studios at 80 Border, as well as Fort Point Channel and in Beijing. "That's really a tragedy. The 'Trans' show is great; I'm seeing lots of new faces. New people come in, recognize the place, and like to come back."
Anna Salmeron agrees. "The first time you go to any new neighborhood you find it kind of scary," she says. "You get lost. But once you know it, then it's in your comfort zone. People are becoming more aware of East Boston as an interesting, diverse urban village."
