2020 - Page 3 of 5 - Neighborhood View

If You Start With a High School Band, Norman Greenbaum Proves You Can Make It

August 5, 2020 Sky Malerba 4

By Sky Malbera Remember Spirit In the Sky, the rollicking rock hit from 1969 about spirituality? Did you know the singer was a Malden-born-and-raised musician? Norman Greenbaum, an Orthodox Jew born in 1942, went on to create music but it was Spirit in the Sky that would reverberate through American culture. It was featured in almost fifty films, including Apollo 13 and the sequel to Wayne’s World and numerous television shows such as Law & Order and Big Love. Fun fact: the lyrics reportedly took all of fifteen minutes to write! Greenbaum was more than a one-hit wonder. He led in the charts with several other memorable tunes such as The Eggplant That Ate Chicago in 1966 and Canned Ham in 1970. A long-time resident of Santa Rosa, Calif., Greenbaum visited Malden on Oct. 16 2019, to cut the ribbon unveiling a mural on 110 Pleasant Street painted by Jesse Melanson to honor of the 50th anniversary of the famous song. Fittingly, the mural envisions a hand raised up to the sky with rainbows and music notes flying, mirroring the streets of Malden blasting the hit with the universal themes incapsulated by […]

Perle Fine: Painting Through Barriers

July 26, 2020 Sky Malerba 3

By Sky Malerba In a world of male artists and curators, Boston born, Malden-raised Perle Fine never quite got the acclaim owed to her. An abstractionist and a constructor of collage, Fine was shaped by the avant-guard scene of the early to mid 20th century in New York City. Fine is the selection for Week Four of Malden Arts Mondays, a two-month long celebration of artists and figures who have lived in Malden. Fine’s career arguably picked up steam in May of 1943 when two of her paintings were entered into and featured in Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century museum. Two years later Fine would enjoy her first solo exhibition in 1945 at the Willard Gallery. Gradually, Fine integrated herself into artist communities where she socialized with other expressionists in clubs like the Betty Parsons Gallery, in 1948 — an atmosphere not unlike the enlightenment groups in 19th century French salons. She congregated with the likes of Clyfford Still Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and others. By the 1960s Perle Fine was a lecturer and associate professor and is cited as […]

From lock down to work out to city discovery tour

July 24, 2020 Sandra Ndengue 3

By Sandra G. Ndengue The effects of being home all day during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic began to weigh on me, with boredom and stress as my sole companions. My daily routine had become monotonous except the few times I escaped to the grocery store. The idea of stepping out even to get food instilled anxiety in me. “ I need to get out of here,” I exclaimed. “I can’t stay in anymore!” Craving fresh air, I slowly walked up to an empty MBTA parking lot near Oak Grove station. Five minutes of walking was all it took to feel free again. I felt relieved and relaxed, sensing the gentle breeze caress my body. Even the noises of birds chirping and trains departing and arriving the station gave me a sensation of normality as I sat there for 30 minutes. I don’t normally exert myself or do any sports related activity – unless I have a partner or a coach. I don’t go to a gym. But during the pandemic, I have discovered something that many […]

Humble Words From an Abstract Artist: “What You See is What You See”

July 21, 2020 Sky Malerba 4

By Sky Malerba Malden Arts Mondays is a two-month long celebration of artists and figures who have been born in Malden. Week Three of Malden Art’s Monday features renown artist Frank Stella. A Malden native and New York resident, Frank Stella tricks and pleases the eye with his abstraction and minimalist work which stood out in the art scene of the ’50s and ’60s. As an accomplished painter, sculptor and printmaker, Stella left his mark on pieces both in two-dimensional works and in three-dimensional space. His work includes the set and costumes for Scramble, a dance piece by Merce Cunningham in 1967, and a series of pieces called Protractor, which play with the intersection of geometric shapes and interplaying colors. In 1966, in a much quoted remark, he said, “What you see is what you see.” Testing the boundaries of his understanding of shapes and mass, he delved more into sculpture starting with using canvases of irregular shapes, and then pasting free-standing metal pieces on them with paint. This experimentation would lead to increasingly more ambitious […]

His Parents Were Slaves, He Became a Leader: Herbert L. Jackson

July 14, 2020 Sky Malerba 1

By Sky Malerba Malden Arts launched “Malden Arts Mondays” earlier this month with a celebration of esteemed Malden natives. First up was illustrator, Ed Emberley, who was born in Malden in 1931. This week Malden Arts celebrates the first African-American state representative in Massachusetts, Herbert L. Jackson, with a suggested walking tour and other activities. A child of parents born into slavery, Jackson was the first African American ever elected to the Malden City Council. He was first elected as a councillor for Ward 7 from 1945 to 1947, and in Ward 5 from 1947 to 1951 and as a City Councillor-at-Large from 1965 to 1975. He served as president of the Malden City Council four times. He was elected as a state house representative, serving from 1950 to 1954. Herbert L Jackson was born in 1908 to John T. Jackson and Araminta Jefferson Jackson, who owned a tailoring business. Jackson was one of seven children and it seems as though his political career started in grade school. Always breaking barriers, he ran as class president […]

Ed Emberley is the first Malden artist celebrated for “Malden Arts Mondays”

July 11, 2020 Sky Malerba 10

By Sky Malerba “Anyone who likes my books are like me in some way.” –Ed Emberley Malden Arts kicked off a new program “Malden Arts Mondays” on July 8-9 with a celebration of the illustrator, Ed Emberley, who was born in Malden in 1931. Activities included a walking tour to see his childhood home and the local mural dedicated to his art, as well as a list of fun arts, reading and discussion activities. Known for writing and illustrating educational children’s books with bright colors that awaken the senses and a rare type of charm accessible to both children and adults, 88-year-old Ed Emberley has delighted audiences for more than 50 years. Notable successes include his first book The Wing on a Flea, which educated children on shapes in a narrative format. It not only made the New York Times list of best illustrated books of 1961 but was an ALA Notable Book. Ed Emberley’s A.B.C, is a fine example of Emberley’s identity as an author and artist. It is an interactive book in which […]

Storyteller’s Café featured stories, reflections and a “Cat and Barbie” show

June 29, 2020 Sky Malerba 1

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hear a cat talk? How would a sassy Barbie doll speak? Have you ever wondered what they might be thinking? A chatty cat and talking Barbie were part of the June 10 “Stories Only You Can Tell” virtual “Storyteller’s Café,” presented through MATV (soon to be UMA, Urban Media Arts). The hour-long event featured short personal narratives, poems and reflections presented by attendees of the “Stories Only You Can Tell” workshop run by author and musician CD Collins at UMA/MATV back in February. With Collins and the talking cat named Scarlett Lee as emcees, these local storytellers came together via Zoom to share their works. Collins, described as a “front line toe-to-toe artist, defender of women, children and the natural world,” began the night by presenting a custom-made Barbie constructed in her likeness. The doll’s blonde hair was cut short and melted down with a blow dryer, worry lines were drawn on her face and she was bitten up and down the arms to resemble actual scars on Collins’ […]

Not Together, But Not Alone: Malden Brings Pride into the Homes of its Citizens

June 22, 2020 Sky Malerba 0

Hello stranger, It seems so good to see you back again. How long has it been? It seems like a mighty long time… From “Hello Stranger” written by Barbara Lewis By Sky Malerba Barbara Lewis sings this song as backdrop to a scene in the 2016 film Moonlight, where the characters of Chiron and Kevin reunite after a decade-long separation. The Academy Award-winning film was screened on June 6 as part of the first Malden Pride Week. Running from June 3 to June 7, the event was held entirely online through Zoom and Discord. The lyrics seemed appropriate. Like Chiron and Kevin, people in and around Malden were able to reunite – albeit virtually – to “Show Your Colors” and celebrate LGBTQ and transgender lives. Despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malden community, sponsored by First Parish, Malden, hosted a string of virtual events for people to join in solidarity for Pride Week. Events ranged from church services, bingo, dance parties, movie screenings and to a Saturday brunch; they were not limited to gatherings by way of a […]

Confronting the anti-Asian backlash in the wake of the pandemic

June 17, 2020 Martha Bezzat 0

By Martha Bezzat Anti-Asian racism has been on the rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, something that Dr. Jean Yu-wen Wu, a Tufts University professor and diversity leader, calls “a kind of terrorism.” “It’s about controlling us, telling us we’re not wanted, telling us we don’t belong,” said Dr. Wu during a virtual town hall meeting May 14 sponsored by the Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition (GMAACC), an organization launched by Malden residents to dismantle historical bias and racism against Asians and Asian Americans. More than 250 people attended the meeting to hear three specialists and a college student speak about their experiences. Dr. Wu called the current anti-Asian bias a “virulent strand” of racism in the United States. She said that while the pandemic didn’t create this racism, it revealed a racism “that’s been deeply embedded in U.S. history and U.S. nation-building.” “It’s important to speak up about racist incidents to increase awareness because the history of Asians in the U.S. is not taught, and so newcomers in the community may not […]

Malden rallies for Black Lives Matter online and in the streets

June 14, 2020 NeighborhoodView 0

The anger and calls for change that have swept the nation over the police killings of unarmed African-Americans recently came through Malden. An online vigil was held on Thursday, June 4 (full video embedded below) and a march followed by a rally was held on Friday, June 6. Neighborhood View citizen journalists Amanda Hurley and Sky Malerba covered these events to capture the statements and emotions of participants who peacefully registered their outrage and demands for change. Here are their reports. (Feature image – top of page: artwork by Shaina Lu, member of the Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition) “Change can’t wait, and we need your help” By Amanda Hurley Erga Pierrette of Malden Community Organizing for Racial Equity (MaldenCORE) opened the online “Vigil for Black Lives Taken by Police and Condemnation of Police Brutality” on Thursday, June 4, with a call for unity to denounce the normalizing of police brutality against black and brown bodies. The vigil was attended by 388 participants on Zoom and has over 3400 views on Facebook and YouTube. […]