MATV Archives - Neighborhood View

Uncomfortable Conversations: Staff and board at UMA take on race and social justice through internal dialogue

March 2, 2021 Saliha Bayrak 0

By Saliha Bayrak As the nation rose to voice their indignation and call for an end to racial injustice following the murder of George Floyd, Urban Media Arts (UMA), joined thousands of organizations across the country and made a statement of solidarity to champion the Black Lives Matter movement. The staff at UMA (formerly MATV) did not want this statement to be a momentary and hollow expression of support without any actions to succeed it. In the months that followed, staff members began to have periodic meetings and discussions to address issues of race, injustice, and inclusivity, guided by the belief that every course of action begins with a conversation. Terlonzo Amos, the Director of Operations at UMA, believes there is an urgency to have these conversations now due to the recent blatantly unjust events that occurred throughout the nation. “These problems have always been in the Black and brown community…since 1619,” said Amos. “For those that may not have believed that these things were happening…a light was shown on it.” Amos often leads these […]

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’ […]

Teens bridge time, culture and language through film

May 29, 2020 Ose Schwab 1

By Ose Schwab It’s 1:30 a.m. in Chile and Malden and 1:30 p.m. in Shanghai. Fourteen-year-old Finn Sedan in Malden, Javiera Paz Valenzuela Rodríguez, 15, in Santiago, Chile, Isabella Zhu, 14, in Southborough, and Anny Wang, 13, in Shanghai, are laughing nonstop while making final editing touches to a short film that they have been working on together all week. “We were up late – well, not for me because it was 1:30 p.m.,” said Anny. “I guess we did not start editing until that last day. We worked for five hours on Zoom. But it was not painful. It was chill. We were joking, editing, and talking about ourselves. Our mentors, Avion and Sophie, made us feel so comfortable and we had become friends. I was sad this was the last working session together.” The teenagers’ short film titled “Isolation” would be screened later that day (the next morning for Anny) as part of an international filmbuilding workshop for 13 teens from China, Chile, and the United States, sponsored by MATV (UMA) and Zoom-In Zoom-Out, an […]

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 […]

MATV to host Arts and Culture Summit March 9th

February 26, 2019 ditikohli 1

Story by Diti Kohli MATV, Malden’s Media Center, calls on community members to celebrate and encourage artistic expression in the city at the Arts and Culture Summit on March 9 2019. At the event, artists and supporters will gather to meet each other, hear guest presenters, and participate in a conversation about Malden’s arts and culture ecosystem. Anne D’Urso-Rose, associate director of MATV and one of the summit’s hosts, said the objective of the summit is to connect residents, artists, businesses, and officials with each other and MATV. Watertown City Councilor Vincent Piccirilli, who has served the city for 11 years, will deliver a featured presentation about the creation of The Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts in his city. Decades ago, the building operated as a military arsenal and then as a mall until 14 years ago when the Mosesian was founded. Now, the performance space includes a theatre, as well as multiple restaurants and shops. “I think we can be inspired and learn from the collaboration and contributions of different entities […]

Multi Media Madness makes memories

August 30, 2017 NeighborhoodView 0

By Delilah Doeleman This summer I interned at MATV, and was a counselor for MATV’s Multi-Media Madness two week program in mid-July. My job was to photograph and document the class as I, and the kids, experienced it. This year’s workshop centered on teaching kids how to write, direct, and record their own music videos, shows, and stories in MATV’s studios. They then edited them on the computer and presented them to the rest of the class. The kids, ranging in age from 8 to 13, spent the first few days of the program brainstorming and figuring out what they wanted their individual projects to look like. Thanks to MATV’s extensive costume storage, and guest instructor Masio Dotson’s guidance, inspiration was not difficult to find, and soon everyone had come up with a thought-out idea. Among some of the more “out of the box” ideas were a My Chemical Romance music video, brought to life by Finn, one of the program participants, and his friends whom he cast as his bandmates (he was the lead […]

Salem Wolves featured on “Release the Sounds”

March 7, 2016 thatandtheotter 0

March’s featured artist over at Release the Sounds is Salem Wolves. This three-piece from the North Shore delivers fuzzy, loud, punchy pop in rhythms ranging from finger-snappers to sultry throbs. They’ve been in a steady flourish of activity since their formation in the winter of 2014, releasing singles on their label, MegaHex Records, and playing constantly in and around Boston. Release the Sounds is so glad they were able to stop by the studio to play for us. Stop on by the Release the Sounds’ YouTube Channel and check out Salem Wolves’ excellent set! For more Salem Wolves in the very near future, listen to Pipeline! on Tuesday, March 15 on WMBR (88.1 FM Boston-Cambridge) from 8-10 p.m. The show is archived so if you miss it you can search em and hear their stuff even after the fact. The internet is so great. Speaking of the internet, clickity click below for more of their stuff: http://salemwolves.com http://salemwolves.bandcamp.com –-Liz Taegel, Producer of Release the Sounds

Anthony Savino featured on “Release the Sounds”

February 5, 2016 neighbormedia 0

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.

Councilor Debbie DeMaria challenged by petty politics

August 8, 2015 azanzirsa 3

Was the intent to keep incumbent Councilor-At-Large Debbie DeMaria off the November 3 ballot when the executive director for the Massachusetts Republican Party Brian Wynne and Malden Attorney Michael Williams filed a last-minute complaint with Malden’s city clerk, the Board of Registrar of Voters and the city solicitor?

‘Elder Lobby Day’ advocates for home care for seniors

March 10, 2015 azanzirsa 0

“Home Care First” was the chant heard in the halls of the Massachusetts State House as a coalition of advocacy groups stood in solidarity urging state lawmakers to restore funding to services that keep elderly citizens at home. Massachusetts faces an estimated $1.5 billion deficit in the 2016 fiscal year’s budget. Since the budget cannot be officially approved with this deficit, some painful cuts necessitate the balancing of the budget. Advocacy groups for older Americans such as Mass Senior Action Group, AARP Massachusetts, Mystic Valley Elder Services and Mass Home Care made it clear that significant cost savings had already been made by providing home-based care services to elder citizens as opposed to putting them in extremely expensive nursing facilities. Community care programs like home care have reduced nursing facility costs by $853 million in 2015 compared to costs in 2000 – all due to 34 percent reduction in the number of patient days in institutions. There are an estimated 10,000 empty nursing facility beds today because of community alternatives. The per capita use of nursing […]