Arts

Malden Reads kicks off season with ‘bits & bites’ opener

The Malden Reads season kicked off 2015 with its “bits and bites” opener at the historic Converse building of the Malden Public Library. The community gathering was a success despite attendees having to trek out into one of the snowiest winters in New England’s history. Malden Reads is a community reading program that invites the entire city to read the same book and participate in events based on its themes. The grand opening on Thursday, Feb. 19 featured light refreshments, community conversation and a chance to learn more about the Malden Reads 2015 featured selection and companion books for younger readers. The 2015 featured selection is “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.” Written by Robin Sloan, the book combines elements of fantasy, mystery, friendship and adventure while musing on the transition between new information technology and traditional print books. In the video below, guests including Mayor Gary Christenson chat with Neighborhood View reporter Kylie Garcia about the festive opening celebration. –Photos by Elizabeth Scorsello

Arts

Air Traffic Controller’s Dave Munro is flying high

How many major rock bands have you heard about lately who have roots in Malden? Probably not many. Air Traffic Controller, or ATC, is fronted by Dave Munro, who was born and raised in the Salemwood neighborhood of Malden and graduated from Malden High School. I met with him recently at Hugh O’Neill’s  in Malden Square, a fitting place for our conversation. As he sipped on a bourbon-beer he was curious about, an Irish band played (loudly) in the background. Munro’s older brother, Jeff, still lives in Malden and he organizes the Wednesday Open Mic nights here and books the bands that play on Thursday nights. Munro is an affable and thoughtful guy. He apologizes for running late for our meeting and when he arrives he warmly greets the waitress as they chat about his brother and what’s been going on at Hugh O’Neill’s. As the band’s name would suggest, Munro actually worked as an Air Traffic Controller for six years– first in the Navy, then in the civilian arena. All the while, he kept busy […]

Arts

Malden High goes green with ‘Shrek’

Based on the DreamWorks movie, “Shrek,” the ogre, rescues the princess and they fall in love.  Don’t miss the largest musical in the past 20 years produced by the Malden High School Play Production Class.  It’s being performed by 60 kids and two faculty members that are backstage, onstage and in the band.  Great show for all ages. Sean Walsh – Director Todd Cole – Music Director Allen Phelps – Tech Director Miranda Libkin – Choreographer Four performances: Thursday 7:30 p.m., Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Character meet-and-greet Saturday 12:30 p.m. $5 students/seniors, $8 adults, kids under 5 free Buy tickets at the door or main office. –Photos by Elizabeth Scorsello

Arts

Captivating artwork of Ming Huang Zhang .. now showing in the MATV Gallery

The MATV Gallery is exhibiting the work of Ming Huang Zhang, a participating artist in this year’s Window Arts Malden through January 2015. Zhang hails from China and immigrated to the United States in 2011. The work in this exhibit features his oil portraits which are painted in a western style but display subjects and details that are distinctly Eastern. Also on exhibit will be a number of his portrait sketches using a charcoal medium, a favorite of the artist. Zhang frequents Harvard Square where he finds plenty of people to pose for his sketches, which typically take about 15 minutes to complete yet are captivating in their level of fine detail and likeness to the original face. Says Zhang, “I live in Boston and I love this beautiful city. I have liked drawing since I was a preschool child. Every day, I drew on the road with small stones because my parents did not have enough money to buy drawing equipment for me.” In 2010, Zhang drew a giant mural (300 square meters) for the […]

Arts

Henrietta Lacks’ story moves audiences at Malden Reads ‘Dessert Theater’

It was an electrifying evening in Malden on Monday, November 10. The cafeteria of Triangle, Inc. at 420 Pearl St. was transformed into an elegant cafe with lamps and candlelight replacing the overhead fluorescents. The opening to the kitchen was covered by grey-mottled panels and formed the backdrop for a theatrical presentation that left the over 70 attendees to the free event profoundly moved by its power and intensity. Malden Reads: One City, One Book in collaboration with the North Shore Black Women’s Association presented a staged reading of an original play, “Henrietta,” based on the 2014 Malden Reads book selection The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Written by poet, musician, songwriter and (now) playwright Licia Sky, the reading was a moving tribute to the African-American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge in the 1950s at Johns Hopkins Hospital and have been multiplied and used worldwide since that time to further the field of medical science. Henrietta was a poor black tobacco farmer from the south whose family continued to […]

Arts

MATV wins four regional video awards

MATV, Malden’s Media Center, landed four awards in a recent video festival held in Nashua, New Hampshire sponsored by the Alliance for Community Media Northeast Region.The annual event, held on October 11, featured hundreds of students, professionals and citizens from all over New England and New York to compete for best video in 20 categories. MATV’s Executive Director Ron Cox and Program/Volunteer Coordinator James Mudge attended the ceremony to receive “Best Entertainment” in the professional division for a video Ron produced for last year’s MATV Annual Meeting called “Back to the Future.” The video was a spoof based on the well-loved film trilogy. Mr. Cox, who played himself in the video did the writing and editing and James Mudge who played “Doc” was the camera operator. The second first-place video was for “A Visit with Dairy Delight” which won “Best Profile Documentary” in the professional division. This was a short story on one of Malden’s favorite ice cream shops on Main Street. Ron was the host and James shot and edited the piece as a […]

Arts

Window Arts Malden showcases local artists

Want a good reason to walk around downtown Malden? Window Arts Malden, the flagship project of Malden Arts, is celebrating its ninth season showcasing more than 20 local artists working with different mediums including photography, jewelry, printmaking and painting. The storefront exhibition continues through Sunday, Oct. 12. “For artists, it’s a lot of fun,” says Elizabeth Scorsello, a local creatve displaying her work at Two Paisan’s Pizzeria. “It’s a great way to get your work out there and share it with your neighbors and fellow artists.”

Arts

Op-Ed: Hip hop from a Malden resident’s perspective

Hip hop is the most influential culture to today’s youth globally. What is hip hop? Well, I’m glad you asked. Hip hop is the absence of rules. People study music theory, but hip hop is not theoretical. It is the practice of taking 1/100 of a sample, or a riff and completely distorting the original context, to create something that the original artist never intended or imagined. Hip hop can be a gentle ode to one’s mother or a direct threat to the powers that be around the globe in the speed of a tweet. It can be funny or ironic, or a witness to obscenely pornographic levels of uncut violence or unmitigated injustice. If it exists in the real world, it is fair game for hip hop. Hip hop is not the pop infused sounds that we hear blaring out of our speakers in the car that provoke youth to twerk. Any similarities to “hip-pop” are due to common cultural influences, “chicken or the egg” type conundrum. There will always be entertainers who mass […]

Arts

Malden’s ILC Theater puts on a show

Malden’s Immigrant Learning Center Theater class recently hosted a performance event. The class is a unique learning experience for English for speakers of other languages in which conversational English is mixed with personal storytelling and sharing of participant’s experiences. This allows people to share their stories about coming to America, improves their English proficiency, and shines a light on the importance of immigrants to the community. The performance mixed humor and striking theatrical performance with moving personal experiences to make for an entertaining story and an intrigued audience. ILC has always been a safe and creative space to park dialogue about Immigration and its importance to our community while handling the voices of the people who have experienced it first-hand.

Arts

Corita Kent Exhibit in Memory of Joan Aliberti at the Malden Public Library

An exhibit of works by renowned artist Corita Kent is on display at the Malden Public Library in the Lower Gallery of the Converse Memorial Building. The works were donated in memory of longtime Malden resident Joan Aliberti after her death in 2002 by her mother Tina Aliberti. Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, is the artist behind the brightly colored gas tanks in Dorchester that are seen along the Southeast Expressway. Known as the Rainbow Swash, the painting on the gas tanks comprise the largest piece of copyrighted artwork in the world. A similar design was used for the artist’s widely recognized 1985 Love stamp. Kent has an extensive body of work that incorporates abstract color, collage, and writing, expressing values of peace and social justice. Her works are included in collections at The Whitney, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Joan Aliberti, a Malden educator, was a friend of the late artist and held a number of her works in her personal collection. The pieces […]