Arts

Anthony Savino featured on “Release the Sounds”

Providence-based artist Anthony Savino has been playing the guitar for about 14 years, and in that time he has developed a swift, craftsman-like fingerpicking style.  He has devoted much of the past decade to making and releasing original work, though his showcase with RTS features almost exclusively as-yet unreleased material, including a song which he wrote as part of the score for Spanish short film based on Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. His approach ranges from lively, gentle and bright as in Red Bird, to pastoral folk pacings that make me somehow homesick as in What You Read. New releases are in the works and soon to be added to his already extensive collection of albums and EP’s, available for listen, streaming and download HERE. Visit the Youtube channel for Release the Sounds HERE for more behind-the-scenes clips. Release the Sounds, airing on MATV (Comcast 3, Verizon 28) every Wednesday at 10 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m., spotlights regional musicians every month.

Arts

Artist Marketplace at Luva Spa

The handiwork of a talented group of Malden artists is on display at the Holiday Marketplace at Luva Spa and Gallery, 379 Main Street.  Today (Thursday, December 18) was the first day of the two-day pop-up.  The marketplace will be open from 9am – 5pm on Saturday, December 19. For sale are beautiful handmade scarves, hair and hat pieces, tree ornaments, jewelry, cards, photographs, food items and more. Allison de Faria, the Events Coordinator for Luva Hair and Day Spa, extended the invitation to the Malden artists. Luva is a local business that has supported the arts in Malden since it opened in 2011. Along with their full day spa offerings, they feature rotating exhibits from local artists in their extensive gallery space. The artists whose work is featured in the marketplace are Bonnie Blanchard, Elizabeth Scorsello, Ginny Remedi, Ose Manheim, and Elena Martinez.   Elena Martinez comments, “We are very grateful and excited to have this pop-up marketplace. We want Malden to know that there are artisans in the community and we are actively looking […]

Arts

Profile of artist Stephanie Mahan Stigliano

“So many books from Baghdad’s libraries were flung into the Tigris that a horse could walk across on them.  The river ran black with scholars’ ink and red with the blood of martyrs.” —As written by Ian Frazier in the April 25, 2005 issue of the New Yorker, about the Mongols attacking Baghdad on January 29, 1258. The desert knows me well, the night and the mounted men. The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen. —Abu al Tayyib al-Mutanabbi (died 965 CE) “I love books and I think reading is so important in my life, important to culture and education and expanding your world view.” she said,  “I make books.  I love reading books.  I love libraries, everything about books, going to bookstores, sharing stories about books I’ve read.  So, I thought, ok, I can do this.” Malden artist Stephanie Mahan Stigliano’s thoughts about her invitation to participate in Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: An Exhibition of Artist’s Books and Broadsides. On March 5, 2007, on al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad, Iraq, named for the […]

Arts

Homes for the fairies in Malden

“If you build them, they will come.” Fairies, that is. And gnomes, trolls, elves and other creatures said to inhabit the natural world. That’s the idea behind building tiny whimsical houses in the woods. And Malden is now prepared to welcome these creatures with a full selection of residential units. On Saturday, August 29, Pine Banks Park on the Malden/Melrose line was host to Malden’s first Fairy House event organized by Ward 5 Councilor Barbara Murphy in collaboration with Malden Reads. The event was attended by families and community members of all ages. Murphy says the event was inspired by the Fairy House Series of books written and illustrated by Tracy Kane. Building tiny houses for nature’s mythical creatures is an art that some say started on islands off the coast of New England and then spread throughout the country. Many community groups pre-built fairy houses which were placed along a walk leading through the woods and up a hill. On the day of the event, children and families built houses with natural materials found […]

Arts

Filming ‘Ted 2’ at Malden Public Library: An Inside Look

Perhaps unbefitting to the historical significance and elegant grandeur of the Converse Memorial Library in Malden, the interior of the library’s historic wing provides the setting for a scene in the recently released Ted 2 comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Amanda Seyfried. The scene was created and filmed over a two-week period in July last summer. Full disclosure: I’m on the Board of Trustees for the library and have an inside view for this story. The Trustees voted on the approval for the filming after the library was approached by the film company, Raging Bear, last June. There was some, but not much hesitation, on approving the deal. According to John Tramondozzi, President of the Library Trustees, “Our main concern was the safety of the building.” The library was offered considerable compensation for the filming, though the project would require a great deal of time and extra work on the part of the library staff. “Sure, we would have loved for the film to be a period drama,” says Dora St. Martin, the library’s executive […]

Arts

Ashanti Munir kicks off ‘Live on the Lawn’ music series

On July 8, Ashanti Munir took the stage in front of the Malden Public Library, ushering in the Live on the Lawn concert series that will take place on every other Wednesday evening for the rest of the summer. The crowd, which included such pillars of the Malden community as Mayor Gary Christenson, danced along enthusiastically to Munir and her band’s soulful songs, filling the whole block with music and merriment. Sponsored by Eastern bank, the concert series will continue with Four Guys in Tuxes on July 22 at 7  p.m., followed by an outdoor movie on August 5 at 8 p.m. and will wrap up with Hungrytown on August 19 at 7  p.m. –Len Tetta  

Arts

“Touching Experience” showcases art inspired by the visually impaired

What does an art exhibit that considers the visually impaired look like? If the Touching Experience exhibition is any indication, it looks like a celebration among friends who discover through art what is possible for others. A few artists in Malden and the surrounding area offer this multimedia exhibition of touchable art through June. Held at the Beebe Estate Gallery in Melrose, a Touching Experience is a combination exhibit of touchable art and works produced by artists with some vision loss, and a performance series intended to appeal to everyone, including individuals with little or no sight. Touching Experience comes as a response to a friend’s journey going blind. Alyce Underhill, Georgetown artist and founder of the project,  describes a day three years ago, when guitar maker and musician friend Joe LeBlanc comes to her photo exhibit. “He stands three inches away from the image. Even then, he has to ask his wife to describe what she sees,” she emotes. “That is so wrong.” “By not offering enough accessible art, we’ve cut people with vision […]

Arts

Malden Sketch Group celebrates 20 years of sketching

When committees make decisions on the dispersal of grant money, there is always the hope that this little bit of money will lead to some greater good for the community. Who could ever have predicted that a little grant given to the Malden Sketch Group 20 years ago would have led to one of the longest lasting drawing groups in the whole Boston area? Nunzio Luca was there at the very beginning. Fred Seager, also one of the founders remembers, “I had a great deal of respect for him and consider him as a mentor. He was a much admired head of the Malden High School Art Department for years, and was a wonderful artist and good friend.” Nunzio and Fred decided to get a life drawing group together and they set out to find a space. “We were fortunate also to have the early support of the Malden Arts Council in the grant process, Niecie Degan and Nana Goldberg were facilitators of the cultural center building, an old fire station on Pearl Street. It […]

Arts

PHOTOS: Malden Public Library’s ‘Secrets in the Stacks’ event

A lucky group of 20 Malden residents got a special tour of the Malden Public Library’s central stacks and rare books room as part of the 2015 Malden Reads event, “Secrets in the Stacks.” Malden Public Library’s director Dora St. Martin and assistant director Caron Guigli led the tour. Participants had a chance to see and learn and explore the vast collection of treasures the library stack! The tour started at the lower art gallery of the Converse Memorial building, were rare treasures were displayed for participants to see and explore. They were serious when they said . . . . . . attendees must be in good physical condition and be able to climb ladders! Our tour guide, “the librarian,” led us through the stacks, pointing out rare book dating back to 1885, the year the library was built, various tools and systems that had been used for the borrowing flow and creative materials used in library construction .,. the amazing glass floors. –Elena Martinez

Arts

Poetry and visual art collide for ‘Lines Connecting Lines’ exhibit

What happens when you hand an artist a poem and ask them to make a visual representation of it? “Lines Connecting Lines,” the new art exhibit at MATV, ventures to find out. Officially launched March 26, the exhibit will run through the end of April. It features the work of local poets paired with artistic interpretations made by local visual artists. “This is very inspiring because you ask 10 artists a question and you come up with 10 different answers, like anybody else. It’s the way you render it and the way that you want to visualize it,” poet and visual artist, Jason Parris Fitz-Gerald shared. Curated by Lisa L. Sears and partially funded by the Malden Cultural Council, the purpose of the exhibit is to encourage art in the Malden community. What they may not have expected is the many connections, old and new, that the exhibit has sparked. Check out the video below to find out who reconnected with an old childhood friend and hear other serendipitous stories resulting from this community art project.