Articles by joanneelie

Arts

Encounter Haiti, hope and love in multimedia exhibit by Nicolas Hyacinthe

April 21, 2020 joanneelie 1

“When I put a piece of art on the wall it’s no longer mine anymore. The viewer sees it and resonates with a truth within it and walks away with it. It is my kaleidoscope experience and their human experience colliding; and at that point it belongs to them,” says Hyacinthe. Hyacinthe was born in Haiti and immigrated to America at the age of 10. Bringing  with him the cultural background and history of the island, he was then immersed in the new narrative of American culture. As he watched films and television, he developed a passion for photography and filmmaking, which he began to study at Emerson College, where he graduated in 2001 with a degree in Visual Media Arts. His experience of living in two countries revealed a universal truth about the world: pain and love. These truths unified the human experience to a young Hyacinthe, convincing him that pain and love transcend any surface differences among varying cultures. Hyacinthe expresses this truth through mediums such as photography, abstract paintings, and film. With […]

Education

Building a Business and the Role of Generosity

March 4, 2020 joanneelie 1

By Joanne Elie More than 70 people gathered at J Malden Center on Wednesday evening, Feb. 5, to listen to five local business owners talk about how they managed to give back to their community while keeping their businesses afloat. Panelists at the “Building a Business and the Role of Generosity” event shared the reasons they chose to run a business in the first place, which was to help empower their community. Generosity was the theme of the night. This theme was reflected in the topic of discussion and by the contributions both in-kind and fiscal by the many sponsors. United Peoples Bank sponsored the event and J Malden Center contributed the beautiful amenity space. J Malden Center is a new mixed use development with a high-end housing complex, retail spaces, and Malden city offices. The community space has a modern, suave design with a colorful young vitality. The center has become a structural symbol of Malden’s commitment to enhancing its community and exemplifies a business focused on community. Other generous contributors to this event […]

Education

Is the Grass Really Greener?

December 12, 2019 joanneelie 3

By Joanne Elie On Monday, November 25, 2019, the City of Malden met with members of the Malden community and the Malden City Council to unveil the design of the Roosevelt Park Improvement Project at a public information meeting. Many in attendance expressed their apprehensions about turf. Kathleen Sullivan, a fifth-grade science teacher who attended the meeting, is one of many who is not for turf. “Removing natural grass is detrimental to our environment. Artificial turf raises surface temperatures and creates a heat island effect while grass cools the surface naturally through transpiration. Turf is counterproductive to the work we need to do as a society to combat the effects of climate change.” Megan Buczynski, principal engineer for Activitas, Inc. the landscape design company working on the project, responds to the heat effect turf may produce. “The organic infill we plan to use reduces the heat on the field vs the rubber that is more commonly used in other fields.” The Geo infill referred to is a material that is 100% environmentally friendly. Geo infill […]