Author: Austin Kittrell

  • Fall Food Harvest Festival creates community over food

    Residents donated canned goods on November 6 during the Allston Brighton Health Collaborative’s (ABHC) Fall Food Harvest Fest held at Brighton Allston Congregational Church.

    Members of the nonprofit’s Food Access Committee said the potluck and food drive at Brighton Allston Congregational Church was intended to connect the public with resources as the federal shutdown imperils government food programs. About 70 people attended the event, which featured food vendors, workshops and community networking.

    The donations “almost felt like a truckload,” said Jessica Rubin, ABHC’s Food Access Committee member. “I might be exaggerating, but it was a lot of food. It was great to see the community show up and show out to help their neighbors.”

    Participants learned to make sauerkraut and grow microgreens during a workshop taught by Rita Vaidya, who runs her own microgreen farm, North Allston Farms. 

    Locals appreciated the event as a community space to meet new people. 

    “Events like this where you just go out and meet those people is important,” said attendee Matt Landry. “Engaging with [people] is important, like people from all different walks of life.”

    In addition to the activities, vendors seemed grateful to serve their food at an event focused on food and fellowship. Louis Elveus, owner of Sweet and Comfy desserts, said the packed room was a demonstration of community unity. His business specializes in creating “infinite maximum desserts” with ice cream, cereal, milk and various confections.

    “When I came in, it was just packed,” said Elveus. “So, I think the fact that they’re able to bring people together [is valuable], especially in a time like this in the world, where it seems like a lot of people are divided.”

  • ACA Hosts Meet-the-Candidates Event Ahead of Municipal Elections

    Ten candidates for the Boston City Council gathered at the Honan-Allston library for a two-hour meet-and-greet hosted by the Allston Civic Association (ACA) on Wednesday.

    Both candidates running for District 9 City Councilor, incumbent Elizabeth Breadon and Pilar Ortiz, and all eight prospects for City Councilor At-Large were present at the event. 

    Kin Chow and Mike Dorgan, both longtime residents, came to learn more about candidates’ stances and priorities before the Nov. 4 elections. Both said they were looking for people who could deliver fresh ideas. “I would also say somebody that is willing to challenge, but in a positive way,” Dorgan said. “It’s a challenge not for the sake of getting on a soapbox and making noise. It’s somebody that’s challenging because maybe there’s a better way of doing it.”

    Speakers inspired others to consider a future in local politics. “I was really appreciative of the fact that they all dedicated their time to speak to their constituents and talk about issues that matter,” said Jesse Liu, an aspiring public servant. “It just shows that these candidates care about their job in the city of Boston.” 

    Candidates said they appreciated the smaller scale and location of the meet-and-greet. “We got to spend a little bit more one-on-one time with folks,” said City Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia. “And I think that afforded us a better opportunity to connect with people.”

    City Council President Ruthzee Louijuene said libraries bring her joy. “Libraries are a public good,” she said. “Everyone can use them, whether you’re rich, or you don’t have anything.”

    The ACA sponsored the event, which has become a tradition in the community. “One of the missions of the ACA, of course, is to build community […] and it’s challenging,” said D’Isidoro, the association’s president. “There are a lot of people that come and go in our community, and so it’s very difficult, from a civic standpoint, to try to get people engaged and take interest in the community.” 

    Chow, a 30-year Allston resident, said that after the ever-present issues of housing and transportation, the idea that captured her interest was something more fundamental — elevating Allston-Brighton’s place in city government. In terms of city spending, the neighborhood placed last in the most recent budget, despite having the second largest population. The disproportionate investment in Allston has been a rallying cry in the neighborhood’s campaign for a new children and family community center.

    “I don’t want Allston-Brighton to be in the back seat anymore,” said Chow. “We have never been the priority in the city council, and I would like us to be a priority.”

  • Q&Allston: Full-Body Murals, Pricing Lessons, and Ozzy Osbourne Tributes with Massiel Grullón

    How did you first get inspired to become a local Allston artist? What was your biggest influence? One of things that inspired me was seeing my mentors, for example, this artist, ProBlak. He is a huge, significant person that I’ve looked up to over the years. He’s a graffiti artist, muralist, and he also does murals all over the city and beyond. He used to be my mentor at Artists for Humanity in South Boston. He was also very supportive of other younger peers like myself at the time, and he helped me. He inspired me to grow and  I went with the beat of my own drum and realized that, yeah, I want to be a muralist. 

    I did see on your website that you’ve painted murals across the greater Boston area. So could you go in depth with your experience and process in mural painting, and maybe touch on some of the more difficult murals you’ve had to embark on? Yes, so with mural painting, you use your body a lot, especially the bigger the surface. When I was doing murals, especially my own murals, I would do smaller scale walls, and then I’ve just started challenging myself more and more. Eventually, people wanted me to make larger scale work. I am a very competitive person. I love challenging myself, and saying “what if?” My goal in my art career is to do a building-size mural, and that’s something that I can just see myself doing. Five years ago, I would not think that, but now I feel very confident that I can see myself doing something more massive.

    So my more ambitious piece would have to be the stairwell mural. It was all done against a wall that’s encased with stairs. It was a very complex mural to install because it wasn’t a super flat surface. It was all in sections, and we had to install scaffolding as well. So that was a huge challenge. We had to balance ourselves and reach certain heights. It was a little scary, but it was just such a very complex job. That’s one mural and the second one would have to be the Rollerama. Yes, the roller rink that I did in Kendall Square.

    I did also see that you have been kind of doing this since high school. You’ve had some commissions and some artwork that you’ve been doing since high school. So how was it when you first started off? I’ll never forget my very first commission in high school. I had this girl in high school who really liked my artwork, and she was a student, and she wanted me to do a drawing for her. So I did a drawing, and I gave her the drawing, and she didn’t have the money.

    After that, I learned from my mentors and learned from this place, Artists for Humanity. They’re a nonprofit organization. They teach high school students and inner city high school students. They get paid to make art, basically. These kids are involved in different departments, from painting to graphic design, sculpture, you name it. They basically get paid and get commissioned to make art. So I learned from Artists for Humanity. I learned how to price my work and sell my work even. As I got older, I have more self worth as an artist. And I’ve gotten much better at sales and talking to potential clients. 

    So do you also generate income through services related to your artwork? So how do you think more artists can learn to become more entrepreneurial and handle that side of the arts world? If you want to become an artist, try to build the business side. I recommend watching videos like, especially YouTube, or social media on building your business,. It’s really important that you don’t ever under-price yourself. We have these thoughts like “I’m not good enough.” Or “maybe, this is like, bad, not too good quality, or whatever, so I should maybe price it this low or whatever.” No, people need to get that out of their head, and those hours you’ve spent with your work to travel to getting those materials — your talent — that’s how much your work is worth basically.

    Also, networking is so important; you have got to put yourself out there.You can’t be shy. I always carry business cards on hand with me, and I put them in my purse, in my pockets, everywhere. So when I’m at an art gallery or an event or whatever, I’m always handing out my business cards. Also build a portfolio, make a website, build up your Instagram, make content, make reels. It’s so important because that’s how you’re going to bring in clients too. And, then with like, sending emails off to potential clients. That’s almost like you’re becoming a salesperson.

    Out of all your artwork, what do you think is your favorite and why? So, out of all the murals I’ve done, my favorite mural is Crimson Archway. The exterior mural out here. And the reason why that one’s my favorite is that I feel like it really resonates with who I am as an artist, and it’s this vibrant piece, and it has this radiant glow to it, and it almost feels kind of like a portal, like a sanctuary, like a spiritual portal to it. So, that’s why people gravitate towards it, and they would interact and take photos in front of it. It’s definitely my favorite piece, and it was also very easy to install. That mural was a breeze to work on. 

    What do you think is your most impactful mural, and why? Like, what do you think is the mural that made the statement, “I am Massiel. This is my artwork,” to really put you on the map? Rollerama, 1,000% because, the 7000-square-foot mural I told you about earlier, it’s a roller rink, right? It was a massive roller rink. What my work does is it celebrates nostalgia. And as you can see, it’s vintage, like ‘60s, ‘70s, retro-type of work. I’ve always wanted to paint a roller rink, and that’s always been my dream, because it’s very nostalgic and retro. So, my dream finally came true, and I feel like the Rollerama roller rink resonates with who I am as an artist. 

    What elements of the Allston community and your personal mission do you intend to capture with your style of art? Bringing people together. Allston carries this very diverse community, especially in the music scene, and there’s also a lot of development changes happening here in this community. What I want to capture is just bringing the community together and, and making it colorful and, and just bringing back the familiar. 

    I don’t know if you know Ozzy Osbourne from the band Black Sabbath, who passed away not too long ago. And again, Allston is a very music-based community, and so I just decided to do a mural of Ozzy Osbourne, and I did it in two or three days, and it was a week after he passed away. So after I had finished it cars were just honking, loving the piece. People would come, bring roses to the mural and take photos in front of it. 

    And that is for Allston. That’s what I wanted to do. And I did that. I was grieving, so I just wanted to give back to the community. I did not get any pay for this. I didn’t want any pay for this. None of that. I just did it because I just wanted to do it and, and I was also a huge fan of Ozzy, and I know a lot of musicians in this community are huge fans of Ozzy as well. I want the community of Allston to just come together and just celebrate the nostalgia of things.

    Has there been anything you’ve learned or adjusted during your time as an Alchemy Station Studio Artist, any signs of growth? Yes, my work has been building very vastly, and it’s overwhelmingly exciting, because I’ve never been this busy in my life. It’s also just been great to be able to come here and just create. I’m grateful for having a space where I can actually create and do what I want to do. And yeah, other than that, I have zero complaints. I really love being here at Alchemy Station.

    Where do you want to see your artwork head in the future? I would like to do murals outside of Massachusetts, outside of New England, maybe even outside of the US definitely, bigger-than-life murals. That’s what I want to do. I have dreamed of doing murals for basketball courts, more sports, sports affiliated, or fashion affiliated, like working with my favorite dream company, that sort of thing.

  • Alchemy Station Launched at Western Avenue’s Allston Labworks

    Alchemy Station, a consulting firm and art studio that supports local artists to realize this dream in the Allston community, launched their Allston location earlier this year at the Allston Labworks (280 Western Ave).

    The duo Kate Anderson and Suzi Hlavacek of Alchemy Station works with artists to create spaces that are grounded in the context of the community. “When we work with our clients, we really want to get a sense of […] goals for their space,” said Anderson. “So, for example […] it could be a hotel, and it’s in a historic building, and they […] want to tell the story of the history of the neighborhood.” 

    Anderson and Hlavacek founded Alchemy Station in 2022. Prior to that, Anderson had been a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization where she learned the skills she needed to run a business from human resources to contracting. However, Anderson credited a book called Start with Why by Simon Sinek as a motivating factor toward launching her own company.  

    “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it,” she said. “A lot of people don’t even know why they do what they do.” That philosophy carries over to the ethic Anderson and Hlavacek established with their artists.

    They enlisted the help of Miki Diminico, managing director of King Street Properties, to help them find a studio large enough to function as a collective for early-career artists. 

    Alchemy Station offers more than space. Anderson and Hlavacek work closely with artists throughout the creative process, as well as with practical issues, such as helping them find studio space or referring clients to reasonably priced framing businesses.

    Stephen Hamilton, of Roxbury, Mass., is one of Alchemy Station’s residential studio artists. His work centers around African art practices of sculpting, weaving and dying and mixed media. His pieces often require space, and Anderson and Hlavacek were willing to accommodate him.

     “I am one of the artists who participated in the Boston Public Art Triennial,” said Hamilton. “Through [Alchemy Station], I was able to get the space that I needed to work on […] the project.”

    Four years after they opened, Alchemy Station have been attempting to engage the Allston community by recruiting upcoming artists through organizations such as the Harvard Ed Portal and the Artisan’s Asylum.

    King Street Properties facilitated Alchemy Station’s expansion by working with the city’s Office of Arts and Culture, where they have received feedback on potential expansion and targeted marketing.

    The artists themselves engage with the Allston community as well. “Part of my work as an educator has been developing programming workshops for Black and brown communities in Boston centered around themes that are important in my practice as an artist,” said Hamilton. 

    As the enterprise continues, Anderson and Hlavacek hope to inspire artists to see themselves beyond their role, applying their skills as storytellers, teachers and entrepreneurs.

  • After Delays, Allston Post Office Development Plans to Proceed

    After years of delay, Allston’s Post Office is slated for reconstruction by the start of next year.

    The original Allston Post Office closed after a record-breaking North American Blizzard dropped nearly two feet of snow, exacerbating its structural issues. In 2021, Eden Properties, a developer, purchased the site and planned to build a new mixed-use building. Within their plan included a space for a new post office. In addition, the developer proposed 170 housing units as well as a parking garage with 58 spaces.

    In the four years since, however, plans to reopen the space ran in fits and starts. Earlier this year, after persistent petitioning by local residents, The Harvard Crimson reported that construction was slated to begin by the summer. Eight months later, the site is still inactive.

    According to Lizzie Torres, an Allston resident working in housing policy, the delays are attributed to difficulties navigating the city’s approval process. She says that access to the sole post office is crucial for folks in the Allston area, especially considering its high population of renters, who frequently move around. 

    Optimism is beginning to tinge conversations about the prospects for the post office.

    “I’ve spoken with the developer, and they are […] ready to start demolition on the old building,” says Allston-Brighton District Councilor Elizabeth Breadon. “They’re sort of starting out the final details for the requirements […] for a retail post office on the side as well as with the United States Postal Service.” 

    Breadon said the Boston City Council believes it is in a good position to advance the project, but USPS staff cuts have complicated the process. Both Torres and Breadon said in the past, the main reason for the delay was worrying about funding for the project, including rising interest rates, tariffs making materials harder to buy, and construction loans.

    Allston resident La’Femme Bolden says that  the lack of a neighborhood post office is an inconvenience and extra costs that present an unnecessary burden for residents. She says that residents have had to travel to Cleveland Circle or the Brighton Post Office.

    However, the impasse may be coming to an end.

    Breadon said demolition is supposed to start this fall, with reconstruction beginning next year.