The MBTA - not much to tweet home about
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
Are all these people unhappy? Maybe.
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Brigham and Women's breaks ground on park, underground garage
(Photo courtesy Brigham and Women’s Hospital)
A rendering of the Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park in Brigham Circle. The park and underground parking garage are expected to be completed by spring 2014.
The long drive of asphalt in front of Brigham and Women’s Hospital is set to be transformed into a lush park on the edge of busy Brigham Circle.
Hospital and city officials celebrated Wednesday as they broke ground on what will soon become the Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park, a landscaped park providing trees and green space, and 400 underground parking spaces at the corner of Francis Street and Huntington Avenue.
“The Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park will provide an inviting and very comforting space for our patients and their families who come here to the Brigham from all over the world,” Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s and Faulkner Hospitals, said at the ceremony at the top of the cement and asphalt hill just outside the hospital’s original building built in 1913.
“It will also be a very welcoming space for hospital employes and neighbors and we welcome you, our neighbors, to come and relax and enjoy the outdoor space at well,” Nabel said.
The park project on the prominent corner of Brigham Circle will also allow the hospital to build 76 bicycle parking spaces and a larger MBTA bus stop with shelter.
FULL ENTRYStudents asked to leave Museum of Fine Arts after they hop on an antique bed
Three Arlington High School students were kicked out of the Museum of Fine Arts this week after they entered a display and two of them got on an antique bed, causing it to collapse.
The students faced "'appropriate consequences'' and school officials sent out a memo to parents late Friday afternoon.
"There is no permanent damage to the display. The supports to the bed were reassembled and the display has been restored to its original condition. There is no damage to the bed itself,'' said Mary Villano, iinterim principal at Arlington High, wrote in an email to parents.
According to Villano's email, the episode occurred Thursday when 250 Arlington High sophomores attended a field trip at the museum. Near the end of the visit, three students entered a display and two of them went on top of an antique bed, causing it to collapse.
Security personnel at the museum asked the students involved to leave. The rest of the students also left, some of them apologizing to museum staffers on the way out the door, she said.
Arlington police and school staff investigated the incident and also met with the museum's top security officer, Craig McQuate, according to the principal's email.
"He assured us that there was no permanent damage to the display. He stated emphatically that they recognized this was an unfortunate incident and that “the actions of these students do not reflect on the entire school,'' ' she wrote in the email.
Arlington High will not be charged for the incident and the school is welcome back at the museum, she said.
"As an administration, we have addressed the incident with the students responsible for the incident as well as their parents. Appropriate consequences have been assigned,'' Villano wrote. "We hope that this can now be put to rest and that our sophomores can remember the positive aspects of the visit to the museum.''
A hot week on the MBTA
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
Will these unsuspecting passengers be greeted by waves of heat once they board their bus? Many commuters were this week.
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BU, Emerson students among those chosen to 1st US national Quidditch team
A student from Boston University and another from Emerson College are among 21 first-string players named to the United States’ first national team in the Harry Potter-derived sport of Quidditch.
The squad will compete at an international tournament planned to be held near London shortly before this summer’s Olympic Games, though the Quidditch sport is not part of the actual Olympic Games, according to the International Quidditch Association, which is organizing the games.
Kedzie Chase Teller from Boston University and Allison Gillette from Emerson were selected for the first string group from more than 150 nominations “based on their skills on the pitch and ability to be a good ambassador for the sport and the United States,” the association’s website says.
Brendan Stack, from BU, and Rebecca Der, from Emerson, were also chosen as reserves for the US national team, according to the site.
If a first string player cannot make the trip to the “Olympic Expo Games” in Oxford, England, a reserve player of the same gender and position will be offered the spot, organizers said.
At least two other teams are expected, from the United Kingdom and Australia, according to the site. A French team and others may also compete.
Modified from the game played in the renowned Harry Potter novels and seen in the movies, the real-life version involves no flying or magic. Instead, competitors run with brooms between their legs.
Adapted seven years ago by students at Middlebury College in Vermont, the sport is played at more than 300 universities and high schools in the country and in a dozen other countries, according to the IQA, which was founded at Middlebury.
The sport has held World Cup matches in recent years.
Many universities participate in intramural or intercollegiate Quidditch. Local schools including: the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Boston University, Emerson, Smith and Eastern Nazarene colleges, Harvard, Suffolk, Tufts, Brandeis and Amherst universities have formed teams, according to the International Quidditch Association.
Read more about the four local college students selected to the team below. The following is text and photos are from the IQA website:
First-string Players:Name: Kedzie Chase Teller
(Yes, his middle name is actually Chase. Coincidence? We think not)
Team: Boston University
Position: Chaser
Teller was recruited to BU for sprints on the BU D1 track team his freshman year. Eventually, he found a spot on the BU quidditch team. He has competed with the team since Fall 2009 (still the era of the capes) and has been a starting chaser since his first competition. He is a 3-year World Cup squad starter and a 2-year World Cup squad captain who, as a chaser, is 100% first-to-quaffle record in all inter-BU competitions. He helped lead the team to 3rd place finish at World Cup III, racking up the highest total number of goals for the team in 2009. He has also led his team toward victories at the First Annual BU Winterfest, Northeast Regionals, and UMass Lily & James Potter Memorial tournament, as well to a sweet 16 finish at World Cup V, losing to Middlebury by a snitch-grab. Teller has worked alongside his sister, founder of BEACON Collaborations (formerly Teller Marketing Solutions), for three years, learning the ins and outs of proper event planning and marketing strategy. For World Cup III, he sat outside the university dining hall to fundraise money to put towards his team’s journey to Middlebury, Vermont. In the end, he earned enough money to help with transportation and to purchase the team’s dinner that night. Teller was also one of the key organizers that ran planning and marketing for the Championship series tournament for the Boston Cannons lacrosse opener.
Name: Allison Gillette
Team: Emerson College
Position: Beater
Allison has been playing quidditch since fall 2009. She has played for three World Cup teams and was captain the latter two years. She brought Emerson to many Northeastern tournaments and has played a large part in facilitating intercollegiate games in Boston between teams like Tufts, BU, and Brandeis. During Allison’s leadership at Emerson, she created a stat-keeping position for all of their games. As a beater, the drive and heart with which she plays the game brings energy to the entire team. Her strong, clean play allows her to take on the best beaters of either gender, and she has saved countless goals for keepers by knowing where to be with her bludger. As Emerson’s Commissioner from 2011-2012, Allison has been the commander-in-chief of the fundraising effort, as ECQ gets no funding from the university. Thanks to Allison, the IQA was able to host the IQA Champions Series tournament for the Boston Cannons Lacrosse opener in April.Reserve Players:
Name: Rebecca Der
Team: Emerson College
Position: Beater
‘Becca’ is a fierce competitor on the quidditch pitch. She is always the go-to person for getting and maintaining bludger control, and works with her partner to create a cohesive team of beaters. With two years on the Berserkers (Emerson’s house team), one year on Emerson’s World Cup team (one semester B team, one semester A team), Becca has always stood out on the pitch. Her enthusiasm and commitment to the sport is found in a few players. At Emerson, she left a reputation of being the best defensive beater – her fellow players coined her style the “Becca Der method.” She is supportive of her team, and no matter what, she keeps a positive attitude. She is extremely dedicated to the sport and her teammates and gives it her all when she is on AND off the field. Becca has worked as an intern for the IQA for two years. She helped organize the World Cup in 2010 by calling and e-mailing companies to raise money and ask for donations for the event. She organizes players from local Boston colleges for film shoots. At Emerson, she was on the Quidditch marketing team, which organized events like a dance, a trivia night, a movie night, and the New England Cup. She also fundraised for Emerson Quidditch by running swag sales.Name: Brendan Stack
Team: Boston University
Position: Keeper
Stack is a very capable keeper with experience on varsity volleyball, basketball and crew teams. He has the speed to outrun the opponent’s fastest chasers, as well as the size and the agility to score on the other side of the pitch. His impossibly long arms make him one of the most adept shot-blockers out there. Stack’s understanding of the game has allowed him to push his offense so he can act as a fourth chaser, if needed. Using his position on the pitch as well as his high vantage point, Stack sees the whole pitch, allowing him to direct and assign his defenders when needed. As well as having a presence on the pitch, Stack has proven himself an ambassador of the sport and of BU. He has succeeded in making friends on every team he plays. He also has done fundraising since high school, from annual pancake breakfasts and “Learn-To-Row” days for crew to raising over $1000 for a fun-filled eating competition for his fraternity. Stack has been appointed as his frat’s Athletic Chair to organize and set up the brotherhood’s intramural teams.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Natick-based Walnut Hill School to showcase choreography students' work in Boston
The following is based on a prepared statement from the Walnut Hill School for the Arts:
Natick-based private arts school, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, will showcase New Works: Performance of Student Choreography tonight and Friday at the Boston Conservatory.
New Works is a performance of student choreographies, a culmination of a year’s dedication towards the development of choreographic craft, creative process, and the art of making dances.
Weekly, the students delve into a series of tasks that involve creating movement in class allowing them to plan, problem solve and develop structured choreographic studies in solo, duet or group formats.
For their final projects, each choreographer draws from a personal source of inspiration and works in a style resonating their own uniqueness and vision. Movement styles, music, costumes, and lighting are the creative choices of each choreographer.
The process that leads up to the New Works performances is one that invites young choreographers to engage in a creative act which is collaborative. The students interact decisively with each other, and sometimes with musicians and designers. An exchange of ideas takes place contributing to the vision of each young choreographer.
Natick youth and Walnut Hill School senior Cacia LaCount will be one of 15 young choreographers debuting new works, according to the school.
New Works is at the Boston Conservatory Thursday, May 24 and Friday, May 25. Tickets cost $25 for adults or $20 for those under 18 and over 55.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit http://events.walnuthillarts.org.
Berklee College program gives Boston Schools students musical push
(Berklee College photo/Kelly Davidson)
Students perform at the 2010 Berklee City Outreach Concert at the Berklee Performance Center.
Boston Public School students from across the city are preparing to show off the musical skills they learned and cultivated with the help of Berklee College of Music.
Almost 900 students from 12 of the city’s elementary, middle and high schools honed their instrumental and vocal skills over the past year with the help of 22 teachers from the Berklee City Music Faculty Outreach Program.
Now, those students are set to perform a variety of jazz, blues, rock, and pop songs at the free Berklee City Music Faculty Outreach scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Berklee Performance Center.
The outreach program, which offers master classes, workshops for teachers, private lessons, directed ensembles, and performance opportunities is designed to help students explore their musical side while encouraging those already interested in pursuing music to stay in school and consider college.
This year, the students from a wide array of schools are set to perform at the concert. The schools are: Blackstone, Mattahunt, William H. Ohrenberger, and Sumner elementary schools; Timilty, McCormack, and Young Achievers middle schools; Murphy and Orchard Gardens K – 8; English High School, Boston Arts Academy, and Roland Hayes School of Music.
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Roxbury International Film Festival to premiere documentary on Boston artist
The 14th annual Roxbury International Film Festival will screen more than 50 films between June 14 and 17.
The festival will include the world premiere of the documentary “Paul Goodnight: The Prime Time Image Maker,” organizers said. The 40-minute film by Dennis Salumu focuses on African-American artist Paul Goodnight.
The former foster child battled through post-traumatic stress, drug abuse and a speech impediment after fighting in the Vietnam War, before eventually attending art school in Boston and taking courses at Roxbury Community College on the path to becoming an acclaimed artist, officials said.
His work has been on prominent display including at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Smithsonian, the private art collection of Hollywood stars Samuel L. Jackson and Wesley Snipes and on the sets of The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He was commissioned to design commemorative art for the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Goodnight co-owns and operates Color Circle Art Publishing, a fine art business in the South End.
“I’ve learned that art is making me, rather than me creating it,” he said, according to a statement from film festival organizers.
The documentary about Goodnight is scheduled to debut June 16 at the Museum of Fine Arts, officials said.
The Roxbury International Film Festival presented the nonprofit Color of Film Collaborative bills itself as “New England's largest film festival dedicated to celebrating people of color.”
“We’re really looking forward to this year’s festival,” festival director Lisa Simmons said in a statement. “We have made a few changes that I think will benefit the festival and our audiences, and the list of films that will be screening are nothing less than outstanding. We will definitely have a very exciting and memorable festival this year.”
The films submitted this year hail from Cape Verde, France, India, Mexico, Uganda, South Africa, and the United States, including a number of local filmmakers who plan to premier at the festival, organizers said. More than 50 features, shorts, documentaries, and youth-produced works are scheduled to screen.
Screenings will be held at venues including at: Northeastern University, The Haley House Bakery Café in Roxbury, The Massachusetts College of Art and Design, The Museum of Fine Arts and at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline.
A festival partner for the past five years, Coolidge Corner will host a pre-festival screening of “SCARS” a film about “two Cape Town ‘colored’ dancers who use dance as a way to express their feelings about growing up ‘colored’ in South Africa, according to organizers. The screening is slated for June 4 and will be co-presented with the Boston Dance Alliance.
An opening reception is scheduled for June 13 at the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Roxbury.
On June 14, the festival will officially launch with the screening of Matthew A. Cherry’s “The Last Fall at the Museum of Fine Arts at 7 p.m., officials said. S. Epatha Merkerson’s “The Contradictions of Fair Hope” is slated to close the film fest on June 17 at 2:30 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts.
To purchase festival passes, visit www.brownpapertickets.com. For information, visit www.roxburyinternationalfilmfestival.org.
To see Boston.com coverage of last year's festival, click here and here.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Neighborhood volunteers honored by Fenway CDC
Volunteers and supporters of the Fenway Community Development Corporation were honored for their work at the organization’s annual meeting earlier this month.
Four individuals and one local company received Community Service Awards from the neighborhood organization that focuses on residential stability and diversity, and advocates for services for low- and moderate-income residents.
The recipients of this year’s awards are:
FULL ENTRYSing a song of public transit
(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round.
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